Dictionary

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

Example: 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.

Example: She convinced the stiff to go to her hotel room, where her henchman was waiting to rob him.

A cadaver; a dead person.

A flop; a commercial failure.

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

Example: Realizing he had forgotten his wallet, he stiffed the taxi driver when the cab stopped for a red light.

To cheat someone

To tip ungenerously

(of an object) Rigid; hard to bend; inflexible.

(of policies and rules and their application and enforcement) Inflexible; rigid.

(of a person) Formal in behavior; unrelaxed.

Harsh, severe.

Example: He was eventually caught, and given a stiff fine.