stiff

STIFF, adjective [Gr.] 1. Not easily bent; not flexible or pliant; not flaccid; rigid; applicable to any substance; as stiff wood; stiff paper; cloth stiff with starch; a limb stiff with frost. They, rising on stiff pinions, tower the mid aerial sky. 2. Not liquid or fluid; thick and tenacious; inspissated; not soft nor hard. Thus melted metals grow stiff as they cool; they are stiff before they are hard. The paste is too stiff or not stiff enough. 3. Strong; violent; impetuous in motion; as in seamens language, a stiff gale or breeze. 4. Hardy; stubborn; not easily subdued. How stiff is my vile sense! 5. Obstinate; pertinacious; firm in perseverance or resistance. It is a shame to stand stiff in a foolish argument. A war ensues; the Cretans own their cause, stiff to defend their hospitable laws. 6. Harsh; formal; constrained; not natural and easy; as a stiff formal style. 7. Formal in manner; constrained; affected; starched; not easy or natural; as stiff behavior. The French are open, familiar and talkative; the Italians stiff ceremonious and reserved. 8. Strongly maintained, or asserted with good evidence. This is stiff news. 9. In seamens language, a stiff vessel is one that will bear sufficient sail without danger of oversetting.