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stiff

/stɪf/adjective, noun, verb, adverb

stiff is spelled S-T-I-F-F: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 7.9 times per million words in written English, the 8,266th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, stiff means “Rigid; hard to bend; inflexible” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in stiff?

Letters5: S-T-I-F-F
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing7.9 times per million words; the 8,266th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is stiff?

Stiff appears 7.9 times per million words in written English, the 8,266th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce stiff?

  • /stɪf/

Stiff has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-stiff.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of stiff

  • stiffer comparative
  • stiffest superlative
  • stiffs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • stiffing participle, present
  • stiffed participle, past
  • more stiff comparative
  • most stiff superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does stiff mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Rigid; hard to bend; inflexible.

  2. 2

    Inflexible; rigid.

  3. 3

    Formal in behavior; unrelaxed.

  4. 4

    colloquialHarsh, severe.

    He was eventually caught, and given a stiff fine.

  5. 5

    Painful or more rigid than usual as a result of excessive or unaccustomed exercise.

    My legs are stiff after climbing that hill yesterday.

  6. 6

    Potent.

    a stiff drink; a stiff dose; a stiff breeze

  7. 7

    informalExpensive, pricey.

  8. 8

    informalDead, deceased.

noun

  1. 1

    CanadaUSslangAn average person, usually male, of no particular distinction, skill, or education.

    working stiff

  2. 2

    slangA 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.

  3. 3

    slangA cadaver; a dead person.

  4. 4

    slangA flop; a commercial failure.

  5. 5

    USslangA person who leaves (especially a restaurant) without paying the bill.

  6. 6

    USslangA customer who does not leave a tip.

  7. 7

    Any hard hand where it is possible to exceed 21 by drawing an additional card.

  8. 8

    slangNegotiable instruments, possibly forged.

verb

  1. 1

    To fail to pay that which one owes (implicitly or explicitly) to another, especially by departing hastily.

    He stiffed me on the tip.

  2. 2

    To cheat someone.

  3. 3

    To tip ungenerously.

  4. 4

    slangTo kill.

  5. 5

    informalTo be unsuccessful.

adverb

  1. 1

    Of the wind, with great force; strongly.

  2. 2

    datedslangVery thoroughly.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Stiff in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchrigide, raide (of an object, rigid, hard to bend, inflexible), macchabée (slang: cadaver, dead person)
Germansteif, starr (of an object, rigid, hard to bend, inflexible), Steifer (slang: cadaver, dead person), Zechpreller (US: person who leaves without paying the bill), prellen (to fail to pay money one owes), abspeisen (to tip ungenerously)
Portugueserígido, duro, inflexível, rijo, hirto, firme (of an object, rigid, hard to bend, inflexible)
Spanishrígido, duro, tieso, inflexible (of an object, rigid, hard to bend, inflexible), fiambre (slang: cadaver, dead person)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does stiff come from?

From Middle English stiff, stiffe, stif, from Old English stīf, from Proto-West Germanic *stīf, from Proto-Germanic *stīfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *steypós. See also West Frisian stiif, Dutch stijf, Norwegian Bokmål stiv, German steif; also Latin stīpes, stīpō, from which English stevedore.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after stiff