Stiff
WordNet
adjective
(1) Very drunk
(2) Incapable of or resistant to bending
"A rigid strip of metal"
"A table made of rigid plastic"
"A palace guardsman stiff as a poker"
"Stiff hair"
"A stiff neck"
(3) Rigidly formal
"A starchy manner"
"The letter was stiff and formal"
"His prose has a buckram quality"
(4) Not moving or operating freely
"A stiff hinge"
(5) Having a strong physiological or chemical effect
"A potent toxin"
"Potent liquor"
"A potent cup of tea", "a stiff drink"
(6) Marked by firm determination or resolution; not shakable
"Firm convictions"
"A firm mouth"
"Steadfast resolve"
"A man of unbendable perseverence"
"Unwavering loyalty"
(7) Powerful
"A stiff current"
"A stiff breeze"
adverb
(8) In a stiff manner
"His hands lay stiffly"
(9) Extremely
"Bored stiff"
"Frightened stiff"
noun
(10) The dead body of a human being
"The cadaver was intended for dissection"
"The end of the police search was the discovery of a corpse"
"The murderer confessed that he threw the stiff in the river"
"Honor comes to bless the turf that wraps their clay"
(11) An ordinary man
"A lucky stiff"
"A working stiff"
WiktionaryText
Etymology
stīf, from , from ( compare ).
Adjective
- Of an object, rigid, hard to bend, inflexible.
- Of policies and rules and their application and enforcement, inflexible.
- Of a person, formal in behavior, unrelaxed.
- Harsh, severe.
- He was eventually caught, and given a stiff fine.
- Of muscles, or parts of the body, painful, as a result of excessive, or unaccustomed exercise.
- My legs are stiff after climbing that hill yesterday.
- Potent.
- A stiff drink; a stiff dose; a stiff breeze.
Noun
- An average person, usually male, of no particular distinction, skill, or education, often a working stiff or lucky stiff.
- A Working Stiff's Manifesto: A Memoir of Thirty Jobs I Quit, Nine That Fired Me, and Three I Can't Remember was published in 2003.
- A person who is deceived, as a mark or pigeon in a swindle.
- She convinced the stiff to go to her hotel room, where her henchman was waiting to rob him.
- A cadaver, a dead person.
- A person who leaves (especially a restaurant) without paying the bill.
Verb
- To fail to pay that which one owes (implicitly or explicitly) to another, especially by departing hastily.
- Realizing he had forgotten his wallet, he stiffed the taxi driver when the cab stopped for a red light.
- 1946, William Foote Whyte, Industry and Society, page 129
- We asked one girl to explain how she felt when she was "stiffed." She said, You think of all the work you've done and how you've tried to please [them…].
- 1992, Stephen Birmingham, Shades of Fortune, page 451
- You see, poor Nonie really was stiffed by Adolph in his will. He really stiffed her, Rose, and I really wanted to right that wrong.
- 2007, Mary Higgins Clark, I Heard That Song Before, page 154
- Then he stiffed the waiter with a cheap tip.