stiff  (st ĭf)
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adj. stiff·er, stiff·est 1. Difficult to bend or fold: stiff new shoes; a stiff collar. 2. a. Not moving or operating easily or freely; resistant: a stiff hinge. b. Lacking ease or comfort of movement; not limber: a stiff neck. 3. Not liquid, loose, or fluid; thick: stiff dough. 4. a. Reserved in manner or strict in observing decorum: a stiff commanding officer. b. Lacking grace or easy charm; very formal: a stiff writing style. 5. Firm, as in purpose; resolute: stiff in their opposition. 6. Having a strong, swift, steady force or movement: a stiff current; a stiff breeze. 7. Potent or strong: a stiff drink. 8. a. Difficult to deal with, do, or meet: stiff requirements for admission; a stiff examination. b. Harsh or severe: a stiff penalty. c. Excessively high or onerous: a stiff price. 9. Nautical Not heeling over much in spite of great wind or the press of the sail. adv.1. In a stiff manner: frozen stiff. 2. To a complete extent; totally: bored stiff. n. Slang 1. A corpse. 2. A person regarded as constrained, priggish, or overly formal. 3. A drunk. 4. A person: a lucky stiff; just an ordinary working stiff. 5. A hobo; a tramp. 6. A person who tips poorly. tr.v. stiffed, stiff·ing, stiffs Slang 1. To tip (someone) inadequately or not at all, as for a service rendered: paid the dinner check but stiffed the waiter. 2. a. To cheat (someone) of something owed: My roommate stiffed me out of last month's rent. b. To fail to give or supply (something expected or promised).
[Middle English, from Old English stīf.]
stiffish adj. stiffly adv. stiffness n.
Synonyms: stiff, rigid, inflexible, inelastic, tense1
These adjectives describe what is very firm and does not easily bend or give way. Stiff, the least specific, refers to what can be flexed only with difficulty (a brush with stiff bristles); with reference to persons it often suggests a lack of ease, cold formality, or fixity, as of purpose: "stiff in opinions" (John Dryden).
Rigid and inflexible apply to what cannot be bent without damage or deformation (a table of rigid plastic; an inflexible knife blade); figuratively they describe what does not relent or yield: "under the dictates of a rigid disciplinarian" (Thomas B. Aldrich). "In religion the law is written, and inflexible, never to do evil" (Oliver Goldsmith).
Inelastic refers largely to what will not stretch and spring back without marked physical change: inelastic construction materials. By extension it implies an absence of change in the face of changing circumstances: "My little pension is woefully inelastic" (Flann O'Brien).
Tense means stretched tight and figuratively applies to what is marked by tautness or strain: "that tense moment of expectation" (Arnold Bennett). | 
