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Stiff vs Disinterested - What's the difference?

stiff | disinterested | Related terms |

Stiff is a related term of disinterested.


As adjectives the difference between stiff and disinterested

is that stiff is of an object, rigid, hard to bend, inflexible while disinterested is having no stake or interest in the outcome; free of bias, impartial.

As a noun stiff

is an average person, usually male, of no particular distinction, skill, or education, often a working stiff''''' or ''lucky '''stiff .

As a verb stiff

is to fail to pay that which one owes (implicitly or explicitly) to another, especially by departing hastily.

stiff

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Of an object, rigid, hard to bend, inflexible.
  • *
  • *:“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron;. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff , retroussé moustache.
  • (lb) Of policies and rules and their application and enforcement, inflexible.
  • Of a person, formal in behavior, unrelaxed.
  • (lb) Harsh, severe.
  • :
  • Of muscles, or parts of the body, painful, as a result of excessive, or unaccustomed exercise.
  • :
  • Potent.
  • :
  • Dead, deceased.
  • Of a penis, erect.
  • Derived terms

    * stiffy

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An average person, usually male, of no particular distinction, skill, or education, often a working stiff''''' or ''lucky '''stiff .
  • A Working Stiff' s Manifesto: A Memoir of Thirty Jobs I Quit, Nine That Fired Me, and Three I Can't Remember was published in 2003.
  • A person who is deceived, as a mark or pigeon in a swindle.
  • She convinced the stiff to go to her hotel room, where her henchman was waiting to rob him.
  • (slang) A cadaver, a dead person.
  • (US) A person who leaves (especially a restaurant) without paying the bill.
  • Any hard hand where it is possible to exceed 21 by drawing an additional card.
  • See also

    * bindlestiff * See also ,

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To fail to pay that which one owes (implicitly or explicitly) to another, especially by departing hastily.
  • Realizing he had forgotten his wallet, he stiffed the taxi driver when the cab stopped for a red light.
  • * 1946 , William Foote Whyte, Industry and Society , page 129
  • We asked one girl to explain how she felt when she was "stiffed ." She said, You think of all the work you've done and how you've tried to please [them…].
  • * 1992 , Stephen Birmingham, Shades of Fortune , page 451
  • You see, poor Nonie really was stiffed' by Adolph in his will. He really ' stiffed her , Rose, and I really wanted to right that wrong.
  • * 2007 , Mary Higgins Clark, I Heard That Song Before , page 154
  • Then he stiffed the waiter with a cheap tip.

    Anagrams

    *

    disinterested

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Having no stake or interest in the outcome; free of bias, impartial.
  • * 1791 , (James Boswell), Life of Samuel Johnson :
  • Sir, you have a right to that kind of respect, and are arguing for yourself. I am supporting the principle, and am disinterested in doing it, as I have no such right.
  • * 1919 , , :
  • With his disinterested passion for art, he had a real desire to call the attention of the wise to a talent which was in the highest degree original; [...]
  • *2011 , (Steven Pinker), The Better Angels of Our Nature , Penguin 2012, p. 220:
  • *:People are better off abjuring violence, if everyone else agrees to do so, and vesting authority in a disinterested third party.
  • * '>citation
  • Uninterested, lacking interest.
  • * 1684 , Contempl. State of Man I. x
  • How dis-interested are they in all Worldly matters, since they fling their Wealth and Riches into the Sea.
  • * 1936 , (Djuna Barnes), Nightwood , Faber & Faber 2007, p. 43:
  • Robin took to wandering again, to intermittent travel from which she came back hours, days later, disinterested .
  • * 1967 , Tommy Frazer, The Sun (Baltimore), "A 'Doctor' Of Karate", March 27
  • Those spotted are usually taught so slowly that they grow disinterested and quit.

    Usage notes

    *Leading authorities consider usage of this word with the meaning of uninterested acceptable,

    References