| Noun | 1. | stiffness - the physical property of being inflexible and hard to bend | |
| 2. | stiffness - the property of moving with pain or difficulty; "he awoke with a painful stiffness in his neck" | |
| 3. | stiffness - the inelegance of someone stiff and unrelaxed (as by embarrassment)inelegance - the quality of lacking refinement and good taste | |
| 4. | stiffness - excessive sternness; "severity of character"; "the harshness of his punishment was inhuman"; "the rigors of boot camp" | |