Stiffness Meaning
/stˈɪfnəs/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounRigidity or a measure of rigidity.
nounInflexibility or a measure of inflexibility.
Sentence Examples
She stretched to relieve the stiffness in her back.
You need a parameter to capture the stiffness of the metal.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After the marathon, the runner felt extreme muscle ____ that made walking very difficult.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The patient complained about a lot of ____ in his joints, especially during the cold winter months.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English stiffenes, styffenesse, styfnesse; equivalent to stiff + -ness. Perhaps merging with Middle English stithnesse, stithnysse, from Old English stīþness (“stiffness”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it."
— 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations:
"After years when I met a friend inside the aircraft and could sense stiffness in the conversation, a whiff of mild slang was the ice breaker, followed by loads of campus nostalgia."
— 2021 September 3, Charudutta Panigrahi, “The Intimacy Of Slangs”, in Odisha News, archived from the original on 19 Mar 2025:
"Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), often referred to by doctors today as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), is a type of arthritis that causes joint inflammation and stiffness for more than six weeks in a child aged 16 or younger. It affects approximately 50,000 children in the United States. Inflammation causes redness, swelling, warmth, and soreness in the joints, although many children with JRA do not complain of joint pain."
— 2024 September 6, David Zelman, “Understanding Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis -- the Basics”, in WebMD:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After the marathon, the runner felt extreme muscle ____ that made walking very difficult.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The patient complained about a lot of ____ in his joints, especially during the cold winter months.