Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

stiff

/stɪf/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.90 in modern English

Syllables: stiff
IPA: /stɪf/

11

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

1

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Rigid; hard to bend; inflexible.

adj

Inflexible; rigid.

adj

Formal in behavior; unrelaxed.

adj

Colloquial

adj

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

adj

adj

Expensive, pricey.

Informal

adj

Dead, deceased.

Informal

Example Sentences

"“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."
"You have discovered the corpse of Captain Willem of the MSV Majesty. His stiff fingers are wrapped tightly around a small datapad."
"He was eventually caught, and given a stiff fine."
"“Yes. I believe she has passed quite a stiff exam.”"
"To fit them for heavy loads on gradients as stiff as 1 in 45 in tropical conditions, these Class 90 diesels embody several unusual features, [...]."
"My legs are stiff after climbing that hill yesterday."

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *steyp Proto-Germanic *stīfaz Proto-West Germanic *stīf Old English stīf Middle English stif English stiff 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.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: *steyp-, stiff, stīf, *stīf, *stīfaz, *steypós

Usage

Inflected Forms

stiffer (comparative) stiffest (superlative) stiffs (plural) stiffs (present, singular) stiffing (participle, present) stiffed (participle, past) stiffed (past) more stiff (comparative) most stiff (superlative)

Derived Forms

nonstiff overstiff stiffen stiffish stiffleg stifflike stiffnecked stiffness stiffship stifftail stiffware stiffy

Phrases

bindle stiff bored stiff diabetic stiff hand syndrome frozen stiff scared stiff stiff-arm stiff as a board stiff as a poker

Frequently Paired Words

bindlestiff

Synonyms

firm stark brutal heavy powerful strong departed no more asleep at rest blessed cadaverous

Antonyms

flexible loose malleable slack soft

Rhymes With

if cliff sniff riff whiff diff schiff tiff biff dif griff skiff

Questions

How do you pronounce stiff?: The recorded pronunciation is /stɪf/.
What does stiff mean?: Rigid; hard to bend; inflexible.
Where does stiff come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce stiff

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