Word.ws English Dictionary

working stiff

Syllables: work·ing stiff/ˌwɜːkɪŋ ˈstɪf/US/ˌwɝkɪŋ ˈstɪf/

working stiff noun: an ordinary person who works in a non-management position, especially one who works for wages rather than a salary.

Noun

working stiff (plural working stiffs)

  1. (informal) An ordinary person who works in a non-management position, especially one who works for wages rather than a salary.
    • Now he spends his time off from work hanging out with his diminutive best friend Vanellope (Sarah Silverman), the casual-dress princess hero of racing game Sugar Rush. 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 original on 21 Nov 2019
    • The balance sheets of the middle class have improved as well. Good. 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 Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 21

Forms of working stiff

pluralworking stiffs

Origin of working stiff

From working + stiff (“average person, usually male, of no particular distinction, skill, or education”).

Words that rhyme with working stiff

28 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about working stiff

What does working stiff mean?
Working stiff means an ordinary person who works in a non-management position, especially one who works for wages rather than a salary.
What part of speech is working stiff?
Working stiff is a noun.
How do you pronounce working stiff?
Working stiff is pronounced /ˌwɜːkɪŋ ˈstɪf/ (UK).
What is the plural of working stiff?
The plural of working stiff is working stiffs.

Words near working stiff in the dictionary

  1. working sets
  2. working someone's arse off
  3. working someone's ass off
  4. working someone's butt off
  5. working someone's tail off
  6. working stiff
  7. working stiffs
  8. working terrier
  9. working terriers
  10. working the audience
  11. working the bar

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: working stiff (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “working stiff.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/working_stiff. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.