different between stiff vs cool

English

Etymology

From Middle English stiff, stiffe, stif, from Old English st?f, from Proto-Germanic *st?faz (compare West Frisian stiif,Dutch stijf, Norwegian Bokmål stiv, German steif), from Proto-Indo-European *steypós (compare Latin st?pes, st?p?, from which English stevedore).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /st?f/
• Rhymes: -?f

Adjective

stiff (comparative stiffer, superlative stiffest)

1. (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.

2. (figuratively, of policies and rules and their application and enforcement) Inflexible; rigid.
3. (of a person) Formal in behavior; unrelaxed.
4. (colloquial) Harsh, severe.
5. (of muscles or parts of the body) Painful as a result of excessive or unaccustomed exercise.

6. Potent.

7. Dead, deceased.
8. (of a penis) Erect.
9. (cooking, of whipping cream or egg whites) Beaten until so aerated that they stand up straight on their own.

   beat the egg whites until they are stiff

10. (mathematics) Of an equation: for which certain numerical solving methods are numerically unstable, unless the step size is taken to be extremely small.
11. (nautical) Keeping upright.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:stiff.

Derived terms

• bored stiff, scared stiff
• stiff-lipped, stiff upper lip
• stiffy

Translations

Noun

stiff (countable and uncountable, plural stiffs)

1. (slang) 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.

2. (slang) 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.

3. (slang) A cadaver; a dead person.
4. (slang) A flop; a commercial failure.
   • 1994, Andy Dougan, The actors' director: Richard Attenborough behind the camera (page 63)

     If the movie was a stiff it wasn't any of their specific faults. They were all in it together and they were jobbed in and jobbed out for two weeks and gone and they got a pile of money for their efforts.

   • 2016, Ralph J. Gleason, Toby Gleason, Music in the Air: The Selected Writings of Ralph J. Gleason

     They never did sell any records. I don't mean they didn't sell 100,000. I mean they didn't sell 5000. Total. National. Coast-to-coast. The record was a stiff.

5. (US, slang) A person who leaves (especially a restaurant) without paying the bill.
6. (US, slang, by extension) A customer who does not leave a tip.
7. (blackjack) Any hard hand where it is possible to exceed 21 by drawing an additional card.
8. (finance, slang) Negotiable instruments, possibly forged.
9. (prison slang) A note or letter surreptitiously sent by an inmate.

References

• (prison slang: a note or letter): 2015, Eric Partridge, A Dictionary of the Underworld: British and American (page 688); 2015, Noel 'Razor' Smith, The Criminal Alphabet: An A-Z of Prison Slang

See also

• bindlestiff
• See also Thesaurus:corpse, Thesaurus:body

Translations

Derived terms

• do a bit of stiff
• working stiff

Verb

stiff (third-person singular simple present stiffs, present participle stiffing, simple past and past participle stiffed)

1. 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…].

2. to cheat someone
   • 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.

3. to tip ungenerously
   • 2007, Mary Higgins Clark, I Heard That Song Before, page 154

     Then he stiffed the waiter with a cheap tip.

Translations

Anagrams

• TIFFs, tiffs

Middle English

Adjective

stiff

1. Alternative form of stif

Adverb

stiff

1. Alternative form of stif

English

Alternative forms

• (slang) c00l, coo, k00l, kewl, kool, qewl, qool

Pronunciation

• enPR: ko?ol, IPA^(key): /ku?l/
• Rhymes: -u?l

Etymology 1

From Middle English cool, from Old English c?l (“cool, cold, tranquil, calm”), from Proto-West Germanic *k?l(?), from Proto-Germanic *k?laz, *k?luz (“cool”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian köil (“cool”), West Frisian koel (“cool”), Dutch koel (“cool”), Limburgish kool (“cool”), German Low German köhl (“cool”), German kühl (“cool”). Related to cold.

Adjective

cool (comparative cooler, superlative coolest)

2. Having a slightly low temperature; mildly or pleasantly cold.

   Synonym: chilly

   Antonyms: lukewarm, tepid, warm
3. Allowing or suggesting heat relief.
4. Of a color, in the range of violet to green.

   Antonym: warm

5. Of a person, not showing emotion; calm and in control of oneself.

   Synonyms: distant, phlegmatic, standoffish, unemotional

   Antonym: passionate

6. Unenthusiastic, lukewarm, skeptical.

   Antonym: warm

7. Calmly audacious.
8. Applied facetiously to a sum of money, commonly as if to give emphasis to the largeness of the amount.

   • Who will lend me a cool hundred.

   • 1900, Dora Sigerson Shorter, Transmigration

     You remember Bulger, don't you? You lost a cool hundred to him one night here over the cards, eh?

   • 1944 November 28, Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoffe, Meet Me in St. Louis, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer:

     My father was talking to the World's Fair Commission yesterday, and they estimate it's going to cost a cool fifty million.

9. (informal) Of a person, knowing what to do and how to behave; considered popular by others.

   Antonyms: awkward, uncool
10. (informal) In fashion, part of or fitting the in crowd; originally hipster slang.

    Synonyms: à la mode, fashionable, in fashion, modish, stylish, happening, hip, in, trendy

    Antonyms: démodé, old hat, out, out of fashion

    • 2008, Lou Schuler, "Foreward", in Nate Green, Built for Show, page xii

      The fact that I was middle-aged, bald, married, and raising girls instead of chasing them didn't really bother me. Muscles are cool at any age.

11. (informal) Of an action, all right; acceptable; that does not present a problem.

    Synonyms: acceptable, all right, OK

    Antonyms: (UK) not cricket, not on, unacceptable

12. (informal) Of a person, not upset by circumstances that might ordinarily be upsetting.

    Synonyms: easy, fine, not bothered, not fussed

    Antonyms: bothered, upset

13. Quietly impudent, defiant, or selfish; deliberately presuming: said of persons and acts.

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Chinese: ?
• ? Dutch: cool
• ? French: cool
• ? German: cool
• ? Polish: cool
• ? Spanish: cool
• ? Swedish: cool

Translations

Noun

cool (uncountable)

1. A moderate or refreshing state of cold; moderate temperature of the air between hot and cold; coolness.

   in the cool of the morning

2. A calm temperament.

   Synonyms: calmness, composure

3. The property of being cool, popular or in fashion.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English colen, from Old English c?lian (“to cool, grow cold, be cold”), from Proto-West Germanic *k?l?n (“to become cold”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to freeze”). Cognate with Dutch koelen (“to cool”), German kühlen (“to cool”), Swedish kyla (“to cool, refrigerate”). Also partially from Middle English kelen, from Old English c?lan (“to cool, be cold, become cold”), from Proto-Germanic *k?lijan? (“to cool”), altered to resemble the adjective cool. See keel.

Verb

cool (third-person singular simple present cools, present participle cooling, simple past and past participle cooled)

1. (intransitive, literally) To lose heat, to get colder.

   I like to let my tea cool before drinking it so I don't burn my tongue.

2. (transitive) To make cooler, less warm.
3. (figuratively, intransitive) To become less intense, e.g. less amicable or passionate.

   Relations cooled between the USA and the USSR after 1980.

4. (transitive) To make less intense, e.g. less amicable or passionate.
5. (transitive) To kill.
   • 1965, "Sex Jungle" (narrated in Perversion for Profit)

     Maybe he would die. That would mean I had murdered him. I smiled, trying the idea on for size. One of the things that always had cheesed me a little was that I had no kills to my credit. I'd been in plenty of rumbles, but somehow, I'd never cooled anyone. Well maybe now I had my first one. I couldn't feel very proud of skulling an old man, but at least I could say that I'd scored. That was a big kick.

Derived terms

Translations

References

• cool in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• cool at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Colo, Colo., colo, colo-, loco

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English cool. Doublet of koel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ku(?)l/
• Hyphenation: cool
• Rhymes: -ul
• Homophone: koel

Adjective

cool (comparative cooler, superlative coolst)

1. cool, fashionable

Inflection

French

Etymology

From English cool.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kul/
• Homophones: coule, coules, coulent

Adjective

cool (invariable)

1. cool (only its informal senses, mainly fashionable)

   Les jeunes sont cool.

   Young people are cool.

   Les jeunes boivent de l'alcool pour être cool.

   Young people drink alcohol to be cool.

Interjection

cool

1. cool! great!

Anagrams

• looc

German

Etymology

From English cool, from Proto-Germanic *k?laz. Doublet of kühl.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ku?l]

Adjective

cool (comparative cooler, superlative am coolsten)

1. (colloquial) cool (in its informal senses)

   Synonyms: brilliant, genial, geil
2. (colloquial) cool, calm, easy-going

   Synonyms: lässig, ruhig

Declension

Further reading

• “cool” in Duden online

Polish

Etymology

From English cool.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kul/

Adjective

cool (not comparable)

1. (slang) cool (in its informal senses)

   Synonyms: ?wietny, wspania?y, znakomity

Declension

Indeclinable.

Further reading

• cool in Wielki s?ownik j?zyka polskiego, Instytut J?zyka Polskiego PAN
• cool in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English cool

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kul/, [?kul]

Adjective

cool (plural cools or cool)

1. cool (in its informal sense)

Anagrams

• loco

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English cool.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ku?l/

Adjective

cool (comparative coolare, superlative coolast)

1. cool! great!

Declension