stiff
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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Facing stiff competition for market share and looking for relevance, Paze is turning to an unlikely group—the holdouts and technophobes who have so far shunned digital wallets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The aortic valve controls blood leaving the heart, and aortic stenosis develops when this valve becomes thick, stiff, and narrow.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
The mattress was as stiff as cardboard and he was worried about his mom.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
The president developed his own trademark dance to accompany the song -- a stiff shuffle of the hips and fist bumps at waist-high level.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
It was starched as stiff as a gingerbread man.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
There are more houses on the market than people looking to buy, she explained, which means sellers face stiffer competition, forcing them to lower prices.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Salt also alters the blood vessels themselves to make them stiffer and increase the risk.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
From a contrarian point of view, that suggests that U.S. bonds face stiffer headwinds over the next couple of months than U.S. stocks.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 20, 2026
The sneaker company is facing stiffer competition from domestic upstart brands like Anta Sports Products, whose sales jumped 13% in 2025 to about $11.6 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
His gray, drooping face appeared to be made of something stiffer than ordinary skin; it rarely moved except for making the smile that was on it now.
From "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau
She had offers from England, Mexico and the United States, with sources close to the player stating Boston Legacy provided the stiffest competition.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Tarrant's penalty of life imprisonment without parole was the stiffest in New Zealand history.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
Some of the stiffest competition at the Masters happens in the shops.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026
When it comes to plant expertise, Club Gay Gardens co-founder Maggie Smart-McCabe is among the stiffest competition, though she’s far too humble to say so herself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2025
A Welch High School display of plant fossils found in coal mines seemed our stiffest competition.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
Not that Mr. Kimbrough ever sought to play stiffs.
From New York Times ● Feb. 5, 2023
He repeatedly stiffs contractors and vendors and his namesake company was convicted of tax fraud just last month.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2022
Let’s say they’re stiffs and they’re stupid people, and they say, ‘Well, we really have no choice.’
From Washington Post ● Dec. 6, 2022
That honor will always go to John Wooden, with his 10 national championships in an era when the tournament contained no stiffs, but only conference champions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2022
"Just between ourselves, Blore, and taking into account that we'll probably both be a couple of stiffs before another day is out, you did indulge in that spot of perjury, I suppose?"
From "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie
These are the “private investors” who would get stiffed if Ivanpah were to shut down due to the project’s minimal asset salvage value and the sizable Energy Department loan standing first in the recovery line.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 25, 2025
DuBon had been stiffed on a painting job a few weeks earlier — an employer simply refused to pay — and started going to Casa Latina instead of Home Depot.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 8, 2024
Trump's closest ally and former personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was among the slate of stiffed lawyers.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2023
But when he asked the court for reimbursement, he got stiffed.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2023
Eddie said, “And Mr. C. tells them if we aren’t the best band they’d ever had then they don’t have to pay. We haven’t been stiffed yet.”
From "Bud, Not Buddy" by Christopher Paul Curtis
“Under Musk’s control, Twitter has become a scofflaw, stiffing employees, landlords, vendors, and others,” says the lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Northern District of California.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 4, 2024
This Russian-German con artist, born Anna Sorokin, constructed such a convincing illusion out of snobbery and good taste that she succeeded in stiffing luxury hotels and bilking financial institutions for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2022
He is at once a social activist, a philanthropist and an executive keenly focused on serving shareholders while stiffing the government.
From New York Times ● Jan. 13, 2022
One of them, you might say, was Hollywood’s most notorious tightwad, staving off the terror of poverty by stiffing servants and handing houseguests itemized bills.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 28, 2020
“If you’re not getting commissions, Becker’s stiffing you.”
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
Vocabulary lists containing stiff
Engineering - Introductory
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Civil Engineering
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Engineering - Middle School
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