Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

stiff-necked

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.83 in modern English

Syllables
stiff--necked
IPA
24
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Having a stiff neck; suffering from torticollis

adj

Stubborn and arrogant.

Example Sentences

Etymology

From stiff + neck + -ed. (figurative): Calque of Hebrew קשה ערף (Exodus 33). A biblical term similar to Swedish styvnackad, Ancient Greek σκληροτράχηλος (sklērotrákhēlos), Russian жестоковыйный (žestokovyjnyj), German halsstarrig etc.

Inflected Forms

more stiff-necked (comparative) most stiff-necked (superlative)

Phrases

stiff-neckedly stiff-neckedness

Questions

What does stiff-necked mean?
Having a stiff neck; suffering from torticollis
Where does stiff-necked come from?
From stiff + neck + -ed. (figurative): Calque of Hebrew קשה ערף (Exodus 33). A biblical term similar to Swedish styvnackad, Ancient Greek σκληροτράχηλος (sklērotrákhēlos), Russian жестоковыйный (žestokovyjnyj), German halsstarrig etc.

How to pronounce stiff-necked

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “stiff-necked”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “stiff-necked”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “stiff-necked” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.