Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use stiff in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, noun, verb

Stiff means rigid; hard to bend; inflexible. Example: “He was eventually caught, and given a stiff fine.”

Examples of stiff by meaning

adjectiveRigid; hard to bend; inflexible.

  • His stiff fingers are wrapped tightly around a small datapad.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Xawin

adjectiveHarsh, severe.

  • He was eventually caught, and given a stiff fine.
  • I believe she has passed quite a stiff exam.”1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 124

adjectivePainful or more rigid than usual as a result of excessive or unaccustomed exercise.

  • My legs are stiff after climbing that hill yesterday.

adjectivePotent.

  • a stiff drink; a stiff dose; a stiff breeze
  • Much easier to just order another stiff one, and raise the old toast: “My country, right or wrong!”2023 July 4, Marina Hyde, “Who’s for political Bazball with Rishi? Voters? Tories? Anyone?”, in The Guardian

adjectiveExpensive, pricey.

  • But he was a Jew and chaffering was in his blood, and he said, "A bit stiff, isn't it?1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 158

adjectiveHaving a dense consistency; thick; (by extension) Difficult to stir.

  • Adding too much peanut butter to your Peanut Sauce recipe may cause your sauce to turn out too stiff.

adjectiveBeaten until so aerated that they stand up straight on their own.

  • beat the egg whites until they are stiff

adjectiveOf a shot, landing so close to the flagstick that it should be very easy to sink the ball with the next shot.

  • I go all out, go for the long ball, the stiff shots to the pin, aim for the back of the cup.1968, William Price Fox, Southern Fried Plus Six: Short Works of Fiction, page 219

More sentences with stiff

  • Q: How's the weather there? A: The wind is pretty stiff, but it's seasonal, so no complaints.From the entry seasonal
  • His portraits looked stiff and formal but his candids showed life being lived.From the entry candid
  • He was scared stiff, like a deer in the headlights, by the vampire walking toward him.From the entry scared stiff
  • The castle was adorned with ribbons, flags and other flutters that waved in the stiff wind.From the entry flutter
  • He swears by cream of tartar to make the meringues stiff.From the entry swear by
  • The spidery construction looked like it would fall apart in a stiff breeze.From the entry spidery
  • My legs were stiff because I'd been standing still for a long time.From the entry stand still
  • My legs felt stiff and leaden from miles of walking.From the entry mile
  • Mix the egg whites until they are stiff.From the entry mix
  • My legs were so stiff and my arms so sore that this morning I could barely climb out of bed.From the entry climb
  • That BMW corners well, but the suspension is too stiff.From the entry corner
  • Vegetan is a stiffer leather that takes tooling very well, but it is easily damaged by water without further treatment.From the entry vegetan
  • I'm not much of a holiday merrymaker, but I do appreciate a stiff glass of eggnog while the others sing carols.From the entry merrymaker
  • They met the proposal with stiff opposition.From the entry meet with
  • The proposal was met with stiff opposition.From the entry meet with
  • The old gum was unchewably stiff.From the entry unchewably
  • Whisk your egg whites until you have stiff peaks and then the bowl can be held upside down over your head and the egg whites stay put.From the entry stiff peaks
  • And the new daycap has little in common with the stiff gin of the old-fashioned sharpener.2026 February 23, “Rise of the ‘daycap’: is this the end of late-night drinking?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN. From the entry sharpener
  • I prefer the hand of the fabric that results and don't find it to be stiff.2026, Samantha Haring, “A Pair of New Tencels for Effortless Weaving”, in Handwoven, volume XLVII, number 1, page 73. From the entry sett
  • But if working stiffs have come out OK, the richest have consolidated their gains.2023 May 28, Robert Armstrong, “The world wobbles; the luxury industry strides on”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The…. From the entry working stiff
  • In the mayolike blend, the yolk created sturdy links between pigment particles, resulting in stiffer paint.2023 March 28, Jude Coleman, “Here’s why some Renaissance artists egged their oil paintings”, in Science News. From the entry mayolike
  • If you’re playing with hardcore Rocket Leaguers, expect to be up against some stiff competition.2020 July 5, Mark LoProto, “20 Best PS4 Games For Kids (That Aren’t Fortnite)”, in Cultured Vultures, archived from the original on 05 Jul…. From the entry Rocket Leaguer
  • Ralph enjoys life as a working stiff, though Vanellope is growing bored with her racing-world domination.2018 November 14, Jesse Hassenger, “Disney Goes Viral with an Ambitious, Overstuffed Wreck-It Ralph Sequel”, in The A.V. Club, archived…. From the entry working stiff
  • This paper addresses the microstructure change induced by swelling for natural stiff Teguline clays.2016 May, Ling-Ling Zeng, Yu-Jun Cui, Nathalie Conil, Jad Zghondi, Gilles Armand, Jean Talandier, “Experimental study on swelling…. From the entry teguline
  • Revivalists often regard classic soul as a museum piece, stiff and untweakable.2015 June 25, Jon Caramanica, “Review: Leon Bridges Reveals Classic Soul and Something More Personal”, in New York Times. From the entry untweakable
  • None of the lambs had malformation evocative of SBV infection (arthrogryposis-hydranencephaly syndrome, stiff neck, scoliosis, brachygnathism).2015 September 30, “Experimental Infection of Sheep at 45 and 60 Days of Gestation with Schmallenberg Virus Readily Led to Placental…. From the entry brachygnathism
  • I wipe away the tears of unjoy before they stain the hideous, stiff bedspread.2013, Anna Banks, Of Triton. From the entry unjoy
  • The stiffer parts carry more of the load, whereas a wet noodle would carry none.2013, Donald E. Struble, Automotive Accident Reconstruction: Practices and Principles, →ISBN. From the entry wet noodle
  • Unexercised joints get stiffer, but the wrong sort of exercise can strain the joints, damaging them further.2012 December 16, Geeta Padmanabhan, “Movement, the best medicine”, in The Hindu. From the entry unexercised
  • She beamed a stiff Botox smile at him, all the initial coyness replaced by professional PR.2011, Ian Douglas Robertson, Turtle Hawks, page 180. From the entry Botox smile

Meaning of stiff

  1. adjective Rigid; hard to bend; inflexible.
  2. adjective Inflexible; rigid.
  3. adjective Formal in behavior; unrelaxed.

Full definition of stiff

Questions about stiff in a sentence

How do you use stiff in a sentence?
Stiff is used as an adjective, noun and verb. For example: “He was eventually caught, and given a stiff fine.”
What is a short sentence with stiff?
“The old gum was unchewably stiff.”
What does stiff mean?
Stiff means rigid; hard to bend; inflexible.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: stiff (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use stiff in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/stiff. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.