stiff

Pronunciation

• IPA: /stɪf/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English stif, inherited from Old English stīf (“rigid, not easily bent”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Proto-Germanic *stīfaz (“inflexible”),^[2][3][4] cognate with Middle Low German stīf, Dutch stijf and German steif,^[2][3][4] and related to Latin stīpō (“to press, pack”) and stīpes (“stake, post”).^[2][3][4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rigid, not flexible: 1000 in Old English.^[2][8] Middle English stif is probably from before 1200, in Layamon.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In physical senses it often suggested the stiffness of death from about 1200.^[3] Of the body, lacking suppleness, it is from about 1305,^[8] of wind, strong and steady, from the 13th century,^[4] and of a slope, steep and difficult, from the 18th.^[4] Of machinery, hard to move, it is from 1848.^[8] The noun, a corpse, is American slang from 1859,^[3][7] a racehorse sure to lose from 1890, and a working man from 1930.^[3] The stiff upper lip is North American in origin, from the early 19th century.^[7] The verb, to fail to tip, is American English by 1934, from restaurant and hotel workers.^[3] Latin stīpō is also the source of constipate and, through Spanish, stevedore.^[7]

Timeline

• 1000 – stīf, rigid.^[8]
• c. 1305 – of the body, stiff.^[8]
• 13th century – of wind, strong.^[4]
• early 19th century – stiff upper lip.^[7]
• 1859 – a stiff, a corpse.^[3]
• by 1934 – to stiff, fail to tip (US).^[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Not easily bent; rigid.
2. Not moving or working easily: a stiff handle.
3. Painful or difficult to move: a stiff neck.
4. Formal, awkward or unrelaxed.
5. Thick; not fluid.
6. Severe, harsh or difficult: a stiff punishment, a stiff climb.
7. Strong or powerful: a stiff breeze, a stiff drink.

Adverb

1. Completely, extremely: bored stiff.

Noun

1. (slang) A corpse.
2. (slang) A dull, formal person; a fellow; a tramp.
3. (slang) A poor tipper.

Verb

1. (informal) To tip someone inadequately or not at all.
2. (informal) To cheat someone of something owed.

Word family

• stiffish
• stiffly
• stiffness
• overstiff
• stiffen
• unstiff
• stiff-arm
• stiff-necked

Related words

• constipate
• stevedore
• stipulate

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press