STIFFNESS
Dictionary entry overview: What does stiffness mean?
• STIFFNESS (noun)
The noun STIFFNESS has 5 senses:
1. the physical property of being inflexible and hard to bend
2. the property of moving with pain or difficulty
3. firm resoluteness in purpose or opinion or action
4. the inelegance of someone stiff and unrelaxed (as by embarrassment)
5. excessive sternness
Familiarity information: STIFFNESS used as a noun is common.
Dictionary entry details
• STIFFNESS (noun)
Meaning:
The physical property of being inflexible and hard to bend
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("stiffness" is a kind of...):
inelasticity (the lack of elasticity)
Meaning:
The property of moving with pain or difficulty
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Context example:
he awoke with a painful stiffness in his neck
Hypernyms ("stiffness" is a kind of...):
awkwardness; clumsiness (the carriage of someone whose movements and posture are ungainly or inelegant)
Meaning:
Firm resoluteness in purpose or opinion or action
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Context example:
a charming host without any touch of stiffness or pomposity
Hypernyms ("stiffness" is a kind of...):
firmness; firmness of purpose; resoluteness; resolution; resolve (the trait of being resolute)
Meaning:
The inelegance of someone stiff and unrelaxed (as by embarrassment)
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Synonyms:
gracelessness; clumsiness; awkwardness; stiffness
Hypernyms ("stiffness" is a kind of...):
inelegance (the quality of lacking refinement and good taste)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "stiffness"):
woodenness (the quality of being wooden and awkward)
gaucherie; rusticity (the quality of being rustic or gauche)
Meaning:
Excessive sternness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Synonyms:
inclemency; rigorousness; rigourousness; rigor; rigour; hardness; severity; severeness; harshness; stiffness
Context examples:
severity of character / the harshness of his punishment was inhuman / the rigors of boot camp
Hypernyms ("stiffness" is a kind of...):
sternness; strictness (uncompromising resolution)
