Question 1 · Quick check
stiffness
CEFRB2
/stˈɪfnəs/
noun
Türkçe translations
Translating…
In plain English
- 01
noun
The quality of being stiff and hard to bend.
- 02
noun
Extra detailInelegance; a lack of relaxedness.
Examples
She stretched to relieve the stiffness in her back.
You need a parameter to capture the stiffness of the metal.
At a glance
Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale
- Senses
- 5
- Parts of speech
- 1
- Citations
- 3
Deep Dive
noun
Extra meaningsInflexibility or a measure of inflexibility.
Rigidity or a measure of rigidity.
Muscular tension due to unaccustomed or excessive exercise or work; soreness.
More examples
In contextHis stiffness hampered the conversation.
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.
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.
Quick test
Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.
Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.
Nearby
Origin
noun
From Middle English stiffenes, styffenesse, styfnesse; equivalent to stiff + -ness. Perhaps merging with Middle English stithnesse, stithnysse, from Old English stīþness (“stiffness”).