- stiff
- adj.1 difficult to bend/moveVERBS▪ be, feel, lie, look, sit, stand▪
She lay stiff and still beside him.
▪ become, get, go▪My fingers had gone stiff with cold.
ADVERB▪ extremely, fairly, very, etc.▪ a little, slightly, etc.▪ allPREPOSITION▪ with▪The clothes were stiff with dust and grease.
PHRASES▪ (as) stiff as a board▪The captain stood as stiff as a board.
2 having sore musclesVERBS▪ be, feel▪He felt stiff all over.
▪ get▪You'll get stiff if you don't have a hot bath.
▪ leave sb, make sb▪All that digging made me really stiff.
ADVERB▪ extremely, fairly, very, etc.▪ a little, slightly, etc.▪ all▪My arm's gone all stiff.
PREPOSITION▪ from▪I was stiff from kneeling.
3 strong/severeVERBS▪ be, seem▪Their punishment seemed rather stiff.
ADVERB▪ extremely, fairly, very, etc.▪in the face of some very stiff competition
▪ a little, slightly, etc.4 not friendly or relaxedVERBS▪ be, look, seem, sound▪She was aware that her words sounded stiff.
ADVERB▪ extremely, fairly, very, etc.▪His manner seemed rather stiff and impersonal.
▪ a little, slightly, etc.Stiff is used with these nouns: ↑back, ↑bow, ↑brandy, ↑breeze, ↑broom, ↑brush, ↑cardboard, ↑challenge, ↑collar, ↑competition, ↑drink, ↑fine, ↑formality, ↑gin, ↑joint, ↑knee, ↑leg, ↑limb, ↑muscle, ↑neck, ↑opposition, ↑paste, ↑penalty, ↑posture, ↑resistance, ↑sentence, ↑task, ↑test, ↑whisky, ↑wind, ↑wire
Collocations dictionary. 2013.