SG Heritage Dictionary

Stiff [Adjective] Webster's Dictionary 1828

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.

2. They, rising on stiff pinions, tower the mid aerial sky.

3. 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.

4. Strong; violent; impetuous in motion; as in seamens language, a stiff gale or breeze.

5. Hardy; stubborn; not easily subdued.

6. How stiff is my vile sense!

7. Obstinate; pertinacious; firm in perseverance or resistance.

8. It is a shame to stand stiff in a foolish argument.

9. A war ensues; the Cretans own their cause, stiff to defend their hospitable laws.

10. Harsh; formal; constrained; not natural and easy; as a stiff formal style.

11. Formal in manner; constrained; affected; starched; not easy or natural; as stiff behavior.

12. The French are open, familiar and talkative; the Italians stiff ceremonious and reserved.

13. Strongly maintained, or asserted with good evidence.

14. This is stiff news.

15. In seamens language, a stiff vessel is one that will bear sufficient sail without danger of oversetting.

Stiff [Superlative] Webster's Dictionary 1913

1. Not easily bent; not flexible or pliant; not limber or flaccid; rigid; firm; as, stiff wood, paper, joints.

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.

5. Not natural and easy; formal; constrained; affected; starched; as, stiff behavior; a stiff style.

6. Harsh; disagreeable; severe; hard to bear.

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

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

Stiff-backed [Adjective] Webster's Dictionary 1913

Obstinate.

Stiff-hearted [Adjective] Webster's Dictionary 1828

1. Obstinate; stubborn; contumacious.

2. They are impudent children and stiff-hearted Ezekiel 2:1 .

Stiff-hearted [Adjective] Webster's Dictionary 1913

Obstinate; stubborn; contumacious.

Stiff-necked [Adjective] Webster's Dictionary 1828

Stubborn; inflexibly obstinate; contumacious; as a stiff-necked people; stiff-necked pride.

Stiff-necked [Adjective] Webster's Dictionary 1913

Stubborn; inflexibly obstinate; contumacious; as, stiff-necked pride; a stiff-necked people.

Stiff-neckedness [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

The quality or state of being stiff-necked; stubbornness.

Stiff-tailed [Adjective] Webster's Dictionary 1913

Having the quill feathers of the tail somewhat rigid.

Stiffen [Verb intransitive] Webster's Dictionary 1828

1. To become stiff; to become more rigid or less flexible.

2. --Like bristles rose my stiffning hair.

3. To become more thick, or less soft; to be inspissated; to approach to hardness; as, melted substances stiffen as they cool.

4. The tender soil then stiffning by degrees--

5. To become less susceptible of impression; to become less susceptible of impression; to become less tender or yielding; to grow more obstinate.

6. Some souls, we see, grow hard and stiffen with adversity.

Stiffen [Verb transitive] Webster's Dictionary 1828

1. To make stiff; to make less pliant or flexible; as, to stiffen cloth with starch.

2. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart from turning to the Lord God of Israel. 2 Chronicles 36:13 .

3. STIFFEN the sinews; summon up the blood.

4. To make torpid; as stiffening grief.

5. To inspissate; to make more thick or viscous; as, to stiffen paste.

Stiffen [Verb intransitive] Webster's Dictionary 1913

To become stiff or stiffer, in any sense of the adjective.

Stiffen [Verb transitive] Webster's Dictionary 1913

1. To make stiff; to make less pliant or flexible; as, to stiffen cloth with starch.

2. To inspissate; to make more thick or viscous; as, to stiffen paste.

3. To make torpid; to benumb.

Stiffened [Imperfect tense and past participle] Webster's Dictionary 1913

of Stiffen

Stiffener [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

One who, or that which, stiffens anything, as a piece of stiff cloth in a cravat.

Stiffening [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1828

Something that is used to make a substance more stiff or less soft.

Stiffening [Participle present tense] Webster's Dictionary 1828

Making or becoming less pliable, or more thick, or more obstinate.

Stiffening [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

1. Act or process of making stiff.

2. Something used to make anything stiff.

Stiffening [Present participle and verbal noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

of Stiffen

Stiffish [Adjective] Webster's Dictionary 1913

Somewhat stiff.

Stiffly [Adverb] Webster's Dictionary 1828

1. Firmly; strongly; as the boughs of a tree stiffly upheld.

2. Rigidly; obstinately; with stubbornness. The doctrine of the infallibility of the church of Rome is stiffly maintained by its adherents.

Stiffly [Adverb] Webster's Dictionary 1913

In a stiff manner.

Stiffness [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1828

1. Rigidness; want of pliableness or flexibility; the firm texture or state of a substance which renders it difficult to bend it; as the stiffness or iron or wood; the stiffness of a frozen limb.

2. Thickness; spissitude; a state between softness and hardness; as the stiffness of sirup, paste, size or starch.

3. Torpidness; inaptitude to motion.

4. An icy stiffness benumbs my blood.

5. Tension; as the stiffness of a cord.

6. Obstinacy; stubbornness; contumaciousness.

7. The vices of old age have the stiffness of it too.

8. STIFFNESS of mind is not from adherence to truth, but submission to prejudice.

9. Formality of manner; constraint; affected precision.

10. All this religion sat easily upon him, without stiffness and constraint.

11. Rigorousness; harshness.

12. But speak no word to her of these sad plights, which her too constant stiffness doth constrain.

13. Affected or constrained manner of expression or writing; want of natural simplicity and ease; as stiffness of style.

Stiffness [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

The quality or state of being stiff; as, the stiffness of cloth or of paste; stiffness of manner; stiffness of character.

Stifftail [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

The ruddy duck.

King James Bible KJV Bible

Berean Standard Bible BSB Bible

18 KJV and 19 BSB verses contain “Stiff” — showing the first 20. Show all 25 verses (searchable)

Exodus 32:9

And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

The LORD also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.

Exodus 33:3

Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.

Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.”

Exodus 33:5

For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.

For the LORD had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I should go with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.’”

Exodus 34:9

And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.

“O Lord,” he said, “if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, my Lord, please go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our iniquity and sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”

Deuteronomy 9:6

Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people.

Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.

Deuteronomy 9:13

Furthermore the LORD spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

The LORD also said to me, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.

Deuteronomy 10:16

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.

Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.

Deuteronomy 31:27

For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death?

For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you are already rebelling against the LORD while I am still alive, how much more will you rebel after my death!

2 Kings 17:14

Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God.

But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God.

2 Chronicles 30:8

Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.

Now do not stiffen your necks as your fathers did. Submit to the LORD and come to His sanctuary, which He has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that His fierce anger will turn away from you.

2 Chronicles 36:13

And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel.

He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. But Zedekiah stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel.

Nehemiah 9:16

But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,

But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments.

Nehemiah 9:17

And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.

They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.

Nehemiah 9:29

And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.

You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They stubbornly shrugged their shoulders; they stiffened their necks and would not obey.

Psalms 75:5

Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.

Do not lift up your horn against heaven or speak with an outstretched neck.’”

Proverbs 29:1

He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.

Jeremiah 7:26

Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.

Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.

Jeremiah 17:23

But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.

Yet they would not listen or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and would not listen or receive My discipline.

Jeremiah 19:15

Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.

“This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I am about to bring on this city and on all the villages around it every disaster I have pronounced against them, because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words.’”

Ezekiel 2:4

For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD.

They are obstinate and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you are to say to them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’