How to use stiffly in a sentence
13 example sentences · adverb
Stiffly means with stiffness; lacking a smooth flow of movement, or lacking movement altogether. Example: “He sat down stiffly.”
Examples of stiffly by meaning
adverbWith stiffness; lacking a smooth flow of movement, or lacking movement altogether.
- He sat down stiffly.1949, Dorothy M. Johnson, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance; in Indian Country, London: Corgi, 1961, page 106
- It’s recited in schools across the US every day by students standing stiffly with their hands over their hearts.2019 February 19, Doug Criss, “Here’s why students don’t have to recite the Pledge of Allegiance”, in CNN, archived from the original on 14...
adverbIn a stiff manner.
- 'Very well, Clara,' she said stiffly, 'but I shall also speak to your father.'1956 [1880], Johanna Spyri, Heidi, translation of original by Eileen Hall, page 86
More sentences with stiffly
- Mousefur emerged stiffly from the elders' den, guiding her blind denmate, Longtail, with her tail.2007, Hunter, Erin, The Sight. From the entry denmate
- Pelicans fly below us with stiffly formal strokes, and gulls wheel and keen.1981, Gene Wolfe, chapter VIII, in The Claw of the Conciliator (The Book of the New Sun; 2), New York: Timescape, →ISBN, page 71. From the entry keen
- But none the less, he moved stiffly to the door in order to comply.1917, Waldo David Frank, The Unwelcome Man: A Novel, page 108. From the entry laggardly
- I sloped arms stiffly and marched out of his life; shouting as I left, ‘Don't do it, whatever it is!1987, William Rushton, Spy Thatcher, London: Pavilion, →ISBN, page 119. From the entry think of England
- "You two boogaloo like an old married couple," I tell them after they've danced stiffly for a few minutes.1972, John Asberry McCluskey, The Pilgrims (also printed as 1974, John McCluskey, Look What They Done to My Song: A Novel, Random House, NY). From the entry boogaloo
- Child-trouble widened her brown eyes as she turned them on the shrouded figure stiffly outlined by the sheet, now partly screened by the mosquito-net.1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia…. From the entry mosquito net
- But the little woman was doubtless much older: her face was covered with wrinkles, her hair was nearly white, and she walked rather stiffly.1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, “The Council with The Munchkins”, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge]…. From the entry doubtless
- Stiffly the old general climbed the steps to the upper deck of the warwagon, his knees having grown stiff in the chill air flowing over the deck.2015, Col Buchanan, The Black Dream, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN. From the entry warwagon
- She had been out all day campaigning and looked stiffly immaculate as ever in a royal blue twinset — except for her nose, which was twitching uncontrollably in disgust.2009 October 29, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Mr Stink, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN. From the entry twinset
- "When we first forgathered, I was sitting on the floor with a chair round my neck." "Like an Elizabethan ruff, as worn by Thomas Botway." "Otway," I said stiffly.1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC. From the entry ruff
Meaning of stiffly
- adverb With stiffness; lacking a smooth flow of movement, or lacking movement altogether.
- adverb In a stiff manner.
Questions about stiffly in a sentence
- How do you use stiffly in a sentence?
- Stiffly is used as an adverb. For example: “He sat down stiffly.”
- What is a short sentence with stiffly?
- “He sat down stiffly.”
- What does stiffly mean?
- Stiffly means with stiffness; lacking a smooth flow of movement, or lacking movement altogether.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: stiffly (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.
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Cite this page: “How to use stiffly in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/stiffly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.