stiff
1. Not easily bent; not flexible or pliant; not limber or flaccid; rigid; firm; as, stiff wood, paper, joints. They rising on stiff pennons, tower The mid aerial sky. (milton)
2. Not liquid or fluid; thick and tenacious; inspissated; neither soft nor hard; as, the paste is stiff.
3. Firm; strong; violent; difficult to oppose; as, a stiff gale or breeze.
4. Not easily subdued; unyielding; stubborn; obstinate; pertinacious; as, a stiff adversary. It is a shame to stand stiff in a foolish argument. (Jer. Taylor) A war ensues: the Cretans own their cause, Stiff to defend their hospitable laws. (Dryden)
5. Not natural and easy; formal; constrained; affected; starched; as, stiff behavior; a stiff style. The french are open, familiar, and talkative; the Italians stiff, ceremonious, and reserved. (Addison)
6. Harsh; disagreeable; severe; hard to bear. This is stiff news.
7. Bearing a press of canvas without careening much; as, a stiff vessel; opposed to crank.
8. Very large, strong, or costly; powerful; as, a stiff charge; a stiff price. Stiff neck, a condition of the neck such that the head can not be moved without difficulty and pain.
Synonym: Rigid, inflexible, strong, hardly, stubborn, obstinate, pertinacious, harsh, formal, constrained, affected, starched, rigorous.
Origin: OE. Stif, AS. Stif; akin to D. Stijf, G. Steif,
434
Dan. Stiv, Sw. Styf, Icel. Stifr, Lith. Stipti to be stiff; cf. L. Stipes a post, trunk of a tree, stipare to press, compress. Cf. Costive, Stifle, Stipulate, Stive to stuff.
Dictionary > Stiff
You will also like...
The Evolutionary Development of Multicellular Organisms
Multicellular organisms evolved. The first ones were likely in the form of sponges. Multicellularity led to the evolutio..
Chromosome Mutations
Mutations can also influence the phenotype of an organism. This tutorial looks at the effects of chromosomal mutations, ..
Plant Water Regulation
Plants need to regulate water in order to stay upright and structurally stable. Find out the different evolutionary adap..
Adaptation Tutorial
Adaptation, in biology and ecology, refers to the process or trait through which organisms or the populations in a habit..
Biological Cell Introduction
It only takes one biological cell to create an organism. A single cell is able to keep itself functional through its 'mi..
Primitive Animals
Life, as we know it today, is presumed to have started in the sea and many of them were likely eukaryotic animal-like or..