Wordwyrt

stiffly

/ˈstɪfli/STIH-flee
/ˈstɪfli/STIH-flee

Meaningin a stiff way

Common meaning: in a stiff way (inferred)

Journey through time

  1. Proto-Indo-European*stap-‘cause to stand, make firm’source
  2. Old Englishstif‘stiff’sourceB&T
  3. Middle Englishstifsource
  4. Englishstiff‘rigid’
  5. Englishformed in English from stiffstiffly‘in a stiff way (inferred)’ · today

Sources & notes

Inferred source: no dictionary we use has an entry for this exact word. Its history is worked out from closely related, listed words in the same family, and we are trusting that link, so bear that in mind. Inferred meaning: in a stiff way. It can be inferred from any of: stiff.

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from stiff + -ly (inferred: this exact word is not listed in our dictionaries).

Source words

  • stif Old English · source word “rigid, firm”

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