stiff
Hard and not easy to bend or move.
Firm and not easily bent, folded, or moved.
Very strong or hard to deal with.
Very strong, intense, or severe in degree.
When your muscles hurt and are hard to move after exercise or injury.
Having muscles that are painful and difficult to move due to injury, overuse, or strain.
An informal word for a dead person’s body.
An informal term for a dead human body.
A person who is not fun and does not relax in social situations.
A person who is dull, overly serious, or socially awkward.
- Base: stiff
- Comparative: stiffer
- Superlative: stiffest
- Base: stiff
- Plural: stiffs
bored stiff
1Extremely bored
Feeling very bored and not interested at all.
- I was bored stiff during that lecture.
- He’s bored stiff waiting for the bus.
scare someone stiff
1Frighten greatly so they freeze
To make someone very afraid, so they feel frozen and cannot move.
- The sudden noise scared me stiff.
- She was scared stiff when she saw the snake.
stiff upper lip
1Stay calm in hardship
To not show feelings when something bad happens, staying calm and strong.
- Even after losing his job, he kept a stiff upper lip.
- She faced the bad news with a stiff upper lip.
work oneself stiff
1Exhaust oneself through work
To make yourself very tired by working very hard for a long time.
- She worked herself stiff preparing for the event.
- He worked himself stiff all week on that project.