adj
Rigid; hard to bend; inflexible.
“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron;[…]. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.
You have discovered the corpse of Captain Willem of the MSV Majesty. His stiff fingers are wrapped tightly around a small datapad.
Inflexible; rigid.
Formal in behavior; unrelaxed.
Harsh, severe.
He was eventually caught, and given a stiff fine.
“Yes. I believe she has passed quite a stiff exam.”
Painful or more rigid than usual as a result of excessive or unaccustomed exercise.
My legs are stiff after climbing that hill yesterday.
noun
An average person, usually male, of no particular distinction, skill, or education.
working stiff
The clerk shrugged: “That's the boss's little girl.” “Why, the lucky stiff!” said Keating. “He's been holding out on me.” “You misunderstood me,” the clerk said coldly. “It's his daughter. It's Dominique Francon.”
A person who is deceived, as a mark or pigeon in a swindle.
She convinced the stiff to go to her hotel room, where her henchman was waiting to rob him.
A cadaver; a dead person.
This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late parrot! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the perch it would be pushing up the daisies!
A flop; a commercial failure.
If the movie was a stiff it wasn't any of their specific faults. They were all in it together and they were jobbed in and jobbed out for two weeks and gone and they got a pile of money for their efforts.
They never did sell any records. I don't mean they didn't sell 100,000. I mean they didn't sell 5000. Total. National. Coast-to-coast. The record was a stiff.
A person who leaves (especially a restaurant) without paying the bill.
verb
To fail to pay that which one owes (implicitly or explicitly) to another, especially by departing hastily.
He stiffed me on the tip.
Realizing he had forgotten his wallet, he stiffed the taxi driver when the cab stopped for a red light.
To cheat someone.
You see, poor Nonie really was stiffed by Adolph in his will. He really stiffed her, Rose, and I really wanted to right that wrong.
The Donald moved on to how he had spent £100m on expensive plywood while renovating the golf club. The Scottish tradesmen must have seen him coming. It looks like Trump has been stiffed. So much for the art of the deal.
To tip ungenerously.
Then he stiffed the waiter with a cheap tip.
To kill.
But you know it could be a hassle / Trying to explain myself to a police officer / About how it was your old lady got herself stiffed
To be unsuccessful.
"Come To Me" moved but a few to buy a copy; "My Queen" stiffed in the stall.