Link Centre Dictionary

stiffness

stiff·ness

US/ˈstɪfnʌs/ rare

noun

1.

the physical property of being inflexible and hard to bend

2.

the property of moving with pain or difficulty

  • “he awoke with a painful stiffness in his neck”
3.
4.

excessive sternness

  • “severity of character”
  • “the harshness of his punishment was inhuman”
  • “the rigors of boot camp”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English stiffenes, styffenesse, styfnesse; equivalent to stiff + -ness. Perhaps merging with Middle English stithnesse, stithnysse, from Old English stīþness (“stiffness”).

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.