stiff-backed
1
6.9
- adjective
- /ˈstɪfˌbækt/
:
de respaldo rígido
- He sat like a ramrod, like a caricature of his normal, stiff-backed self.
- stiff-backed chair
Examples
-
The teacher stood, stiff-backed, as she addressed the class with a serious tone.
-
During the formal ceremony, he remained stiff-backed, showing his respect for the occasion.
-
He slouched down in his mother's stiff-backed chair.
Fiction book (1993) -
In a stiff-backed chair sits a very unlikely defender of racial improprieties.
Fiction book (1993) -
She moved about stiff-backed, taut, brittle.
Fiction book (1996) -
On a far dais, facing Tamborel, Bombrul and Rufina sat side by side, stiff-backed.
Fiction book (1993) -
And if your head weren't so thick, and your pride so stiff-backed, you'd see it." Adam sat back in his chair and rubbed a hand across his eyes.
Fiction book (2000) -
"It is generally understood that the practice of cigarette smoking by women is confined to two classes of the fair sex," wrote one tobacco historian at the turn of the century, "One is the lady of wealth and luxury, whose position in society is so surely established that she can, figuratively speaking, blow her dainty clouds into the very faces of her stiff-backed critics, without fear of losing caste."
Academic text (1993) -
She walked into the room stiff-backed, her posture reflecting her nervousness in the interview.
Synonyms
65
5.1
Very formal and not relaxed in behavior
35
4.0
Does not bend because it is stiff
3
5.1
Having a straight, upright back like some chairs or people
Antonyms
How Stiff
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Stiff-backed comes from the everyday words stiff ('not flexible') and back ('the spine' or 'rear'). So it gives a picture of someone with a 'rigid back', which helps explain why it also means a formal or severe way of standing or behaving.