Definition: stiff

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

stiff
     adj 1: lacking ease in bending; not limber; "a stiff neck"; "stiff
            joints"; "stiff hairs"
     2: not moving or operating freely; "a stiff hinge"
     3: powerful; "a stiff current"; "a stiff breeze"; "a stiff
        drink"
     4: rigidly formal; "a starchy manner"; "the letter was stiff
        and formal"; "his prose has a buckram quality" [syn: starchy,
         buckram]
     5: hard to overcome or surmount; "a stiff hike"; "a stiff
        exam"; "an uphill battle against a popular incumbant"
        [syn: uphill]
     6: of a collar; standing up rather than folded down; "an
        uncomfortable standup collar"; "a stiff collar" [syn: stand-up]
     7: incapable of or resistant to bending; "a rigid strip of
        metal"; "a table made of rigid plastic"; "a palace
        guardsman stiff as a poker" [syn: rigid]
     8: slang for `drunk' [syn: besotted, blind drunk, blotto,
         crocked, fuddled, loaded, pie-eyed, pissed, pixilated,
         plastered, potty, slopped, sloshed, smashed, soaked,
         soused, sozzled, squiffy, tiddly, tiddley, tight,
         tipsy, wet]
     n 1: an ordinary man; "a lucky stiff"; "a working stiff"
     2: the dead body of a human being [syn: cadaver, corpse, clay,
         remains]
     adv 1: extremely; "bored stiff"; "frightened stiff"
     2: in a stiff manner; "his hands lay stiffly" [syn: stiffly]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

Stiff \Stiff\, a. [Compar. Stiffer; superl. Stiffest.] [OE.
   stif, AS. st[=i]f; akin to D. stijf, G. steif, Dan. stiv, Sw.
   styf, Icel. st[=i]fr, 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.]
   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
            a["e]rial 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. [Obs. or
      Colloq.] ``This is stiff news.'' --Shak.

   7. (Naut.) Bearing a press of canvas without careening much;
      as, a stiff vessel; -- opposed to crank. --Totten.

   8. Very large, strong, or costly; powerful; as, a stiff
      charge; a stiff price. [Slang]

   Stiff neck, a condition of the neck such that the head can
      not be moved without difficulty and pain.

   Syn: Rigid; inflexible; strong; hardly; stubborn; obstinate;
        pertinacious; harsh; formal; constrained; affected;
        starched; rigorous.