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Glite Dictionary
🧊 To make firm 🚫 To make stricter
to stiffen

to stiffen

25 3.7
To make or become hard and less able to bend
  • verb
  • /ˈstɪfən/
translation icon : endurecer
  • Two minutes more dragged by, then Joshua stiffened, his ears straining forward.

Then they get on the bike where they have to stiffen to stiffen the core.

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Examples

  • As the temperature dropped, the water in the lake began to stiffen, forming a thin layer of ice.

  • You know, anytime it gets humid, everything just stiffens up.

    Blood Dried Hands (2024)

  • I just double it up like this and then I twist from the middle and this is going to stiffen the length of wire.

    Veritasium

  • My muscles are stiffening up.

    The Return of the Living Dead (1985)

  • Grace stiffened as the bell began its toll.

    Dogville (2003)

  • Whenever it gets cold, the arthritis kicks in, and my thumb just... Stiffens up.

    Masquerade (2021)

  • The old shaman stiffened, blinking thoughtfully as he stared down at his wife.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Elayne gave an audible grunt, stiffened her back, and muttered something under her breath.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Flick's spine stiffened, his lips curled in a defiant sneer.

    A Christmas Story (1983)

  • Let the gel sit for a few minutes, and it will stiffen your hair, giving it a more defined style.

Synonyms

to harden
vsto stiffen
27 2.6

Make something hard or solid

causes reduced flexibility rather than primarily making something hard or solid
to firm
vsto stiffen
16 4.0

Make or become tighter and more solid

reduces flexibility rather than only increasing simple tightness
to tense
vsto stiffen
9 4.0

To make the body or muscles tight and unable to relax

means physical loss of flexibility not the emotional tension or nervousness
to rigidify
vsto stiffen
1 8.2

To make something stiff and unable to bend or change

focuses on physical loss of flexibility not mental or attitude change

Antonyms

to loosen
88 1.0

Make something less tight so it can move or open

to relax
78 1.0

To make or become less tight

How Stiff

to rigidify
1 8.2
to harden
27 2.6
to stiffen
25 3.7
to loosen
88 1.0
to relax
78 1.0

Surface Forms

stiffen infinitive
stiffened past
stiffened past participle
stiffening present participle
stiffens third person singular

Morphology

stiffen = stiff (transparent) = stiff + en

The word 'stiffen' is transparently derived from 'stiff' with the suffix '-en' indicating a change of state.

Etymology

Stiffen comes from the common word stiff plus the ending -en, which means 'make' or 'become'. So to stiffen something is to make it 'stiff' or less flexible, like cream that firms up or fabric that becomes rigid.