stiff
adjective 1 not easily bent; rigid. 2 not moving freely; difficult to turn or operate. 3 unable to move easily and without pain. 4 not relaxed or friendly; constrained. 5 severe or strong: stiff fines. 6 (stiff with) informal full of. 7 (&em;&em; stiff) informal having a specified unpleasant feeling to an extreme extent: scared stiff. noun informal 1 a dead body. 2 chiefly N. Amer. a boring, conventional person. verb N. Amer. informal kill. DERIVATIVES stiffly adverb stiffness noun. ORIGIN Old English.
Perform another search of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary
About this dictionary
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English contains 145,000 words, phrases, and definitions.
Find out more about Oxford's range of English dictionaries
Sign up for the AskOxford Word of the Day
Search the Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
Search the Concise Dictionary of First Names
|