Tra từ stiff - Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

stiff [stiff stiffs stiffer stiffest] adjective, adverb, noun, verb BrE [stɪf] NAmE [stɪf]
adjective (stiff·er, stiff·est)

DIFFICULT TO BEND/MOVE
1. firm and difficult to bend or move
•stiff cardboard
•a stiff brush
• The windows were stiff and she couldn't get them open.

MUSCLES
2. when a person is stiff, their muscles hurt when they move them
• I'm really stiff after that bike ride yesterday.
• I've got a stiff neck.

MIXTURE
3. thick and almost solid; difficult to stir
• Whisk the egg whites until stiff.

DIFFICULT/SEVERE
4. more difficult or severe than usual
• It was a stiff climb to the top of the hill.
•The company faces stiff competition from its rivals.
•The new proposals have met with stiff opposition.
•There are stiff fines for breaking the rules.
•a stiff breeze/wind (= one that blows strongly)

NOT FRIENDLY
5. (of a person or their behaviour)not friendly or relaxed
•The speech he made to welcome them was stiff and formal.

PRICE
6. (informal)costing a lot or too much
•There's a stiff $30 entrance fee to the exhibition.

ALCOHOLIC DRINK
7. only before noun strong; containing a lot of alcohol
•a stiff whisky
•‘What you need is a stiff drink,’ he told her.

Word Origin:
Old English stīf, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch stijf.

Thesaurus:
stiff adj.
•Scrub it with a stiff brush
•The windows were stiff and she couldn't get them open.
rigid • • hard • • taut • • tight • |approving firm •
Opp: flexible
stiff/rigid material
go stiff/hard

Example Bank:
•He felt stiff all over.
•His manner seemed rather stiff and impersonal.
•I was stiff from kneeling.
•My arm's gone all stiff.
•My fingers had gone stiff with cold.
•My trousers were getting stiff with mud.
•She lay stiff and still beside him.
•She was aware that her words sounded stiff.
•The captain stood as stiff as a board.
•The clothes were stiff with dust and grease.
•Their punishment seemed rather stiff.
•You'll get stiff if you don't have a hot bath.
•in the face of some very stiff competition
•He had the accent and the stiff manner of a school house master.
•I've got a stiff neck from sleeping in a draught.
•It was an old blanket, frayed and stiff with dirt.
•Scrub away any residue with a stiff brush.
•The brown hair was coarse and stiff.
•The course represents a stiff test of a golfer's skills.
•The windows were stiff and she couldn't get them open.
•a sheet of stiff black cardboard
Idiom: stiff upper lip
Derived Words: ↑stiffly ▪ ↑stiffness

adverb
1. (informal)very much; to an extreme degree
•be bored/scared/worried stiff
2. frozen ~ (of wet material)very cold and hard because the water has become ice
•The clothes on the washing line were frozen stiff.
•I came home from the game frozen stiff (= very cold).

Word Origin:
Old English stīf, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch stijf.

noun (slang)
the body of a dead person

Word Origin:
Old English stīf, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch stijf.

verb ~ sb (NAmE, informal)
to cheat sb or not pay them what you owe them, especially by not leaving any money as a tip
Verb forms:

Word Origin:
Old English stīf, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch stijf.

Example Bank:
•These people are taxed on the tips they make. When you stiff 'em, you cost them money.