Definitions for stiffen

• Definition
• Anagrams (114)

stiffen stiff·en

Spelling: [stif-uh n]

IPA: /ˈstɪf ən/

Stiffen is a 7 letter English word. It's valid Scrabble word worth 13 points. It's valid Words with friends word worth 14 points.

You can make 114 anagrams from letters in stiffen (effinst).

Definitions for stiffen

verb (used with object)

1. to make stiff.

verb (used without object)

1. to become stiff.
2. to become suddenly tense, rigid, or taut, as in bracing oneself for or drawing back from shock, fear, or displeasure:

Origin of stiffen

First recorded in 1490-1500; stiff + -en¹

Examples for stiffen

Little by little his slack body began to stiffen; little by little he raised himself.

She would break down to some degree, and then stiffen back up.

White and tense, her hands clenched, Rosamund seemed to stiffen before him.

And all the time his eyes were upon his wife, and I saw her stiffen as if she had been struck.

At this point the resistance of the enemy began suddenly to stiffen.

He saw her seem to stiffen upon sight of the other aircraft.

It will clear the vision, and discipline the judgment, and stiffen the will.

But they seemed to her to stiffen, against her will, and her embrace was surely mechanical.

Even as he held it up for all of them to see, his limbs began to jerk and stiffen.

The embrace caused Susskind to stiffen up “like an unwilling virgin,” he later said.