Stiff  —adj. 1 rigid; inflexible. 2 hard to bend, move, or turn etc. 3 hard to cope with; needing strength or effort (stiff climb). 4 severe or strong (stiff penalty). 5 formal, constrained. 6 (of a muscle, person, etc.) Aching owing to exertion, injury, etc. 7 (of esp. An alcoholic drink) strong. 8 (foll. By with) colloq. Abounding in. —adv. Colloq. Utterly, extremely (bored stiff). —n. Slang 1 corpse. 2 foolish or useless person.  stiffish adj. Stiffly adv. Stiffness n. [old english]