stiff

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   not moving or operating freely

   a stiff hinge

2. 2
   adj

   powerful

   a stiff current

3. 3
   noun

   an ordinary man

   a lucky stiff

4. 4
   adv

   in a stiff manner

   My hands lay stiffly at my sides.

5. 5
   adv

   extremely

   bored stiff

6. 6
   adj

   Rigid; hard to bend; inflexible.

   “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron;[…]. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.

7. 7
   adj

   Harsh, severe.

   He was eventually caught, and given a stiff fine.

8. 8
   adj

   Painful or more rigid than usual as a result of excessive or unaccustomed exercise.

   My legs are stiff after climbing that hill yesterday.

Etymology

From Middle English stiff, stiffe, stif, from Old English stīf, from Proto-West Germanic *stīf, from Proto-Germanic *stīfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *steypós. See also West Frisian stiif, Dutch stijf, Norwegian Bokmål stiv, German steif; also Latin stīpes, stīpō, from which English stevedore. The expected Modern English form would be /staɪf/; /stɪf/ is probably originally from compounds such as stiffly, where the vowel was shortened before a consonant cluster.