stiffness meaning and definition

STIFFNESS noun

Definition of stiffness (noun)

1. the physical property of being inflexible and hard to bend
2. the property of moving with pain or difficulty
   • "he awoke with a painful stiffness in his neck"
3. firm resoluteness in purpose or opinion or action
   • "a charming host without any touch of stiffness or pomposity"
4. the inelegance of someone stiff and unrelaxed (as by embarrassment)
   • synonyms: awkwardness, clumsiness, gracelessness
5. excessive sternness
   • "severity of character"; "the harshness of his punishment was inhuman"; "the rigors of boot camp"
   • synonyms: hardness, harshness, inclemency, rigor, rigorousness, rigour, rigourousness, severeness, severity