Search the Dictionary

Not natural and easy; formal; constrained; affected; starched; as, stiff behavior; a stiff style. The French are open, familiar, and talkative; the Italians stiff, ceremonious, and reserved. Addison.

To cause to stink; to affect by a stink.

Not affected by passion; manifesting indifference to pleasure or pain. -- Sto"ic*al*ly, adv. -- Sto"ic*al*ness, n.

Parental affection; the instinctive affection which animals have for their young.

An affection of one or both eyes, in which the optic axes can not be directed to the same object, -- a defect due either to undue contraction or to undue relaxation of one or more of the muscles which move the eyeball; squinting; cross-eye.

Affected with a stricture; as, a strictured duct.

To make a sudden impression upon, as by a blow; to affect sensibly with some strong emotion; as, to strike the mind, with surprise; to strike one with wonder, alarm, dread, or horror. Nice works of art strike and surprise us most on the first view. Atterbury. They please as beauties, here as wonders strike. Pope.…

Affecting with strong emotions; surprising; forcible; impressive; very noticeable; as, a striking representation or image; a striking resemblance. "A striking fact." De Quincey. -- Strik"ing*ly, adv. -- Strik"ing*ness, n.

Affecting any sense powerfully; as, strong light, colors, etc.; a strong flavor of onions; a strong scent.

Having a vigorous mind; esp., having or affecting masculine qualities of mind; -- said of women. -- Strong"-mind`ed*ness, n.

To cause to project or swell out; to enlarge affectedly; to strut. [Obs.] Bacon.

Of or pertaining to structure; affecting structure; as, a structural error.

To walk with a lofty, proud gait, and erect head; to walk with affected dignity. Does he not hold up his head, . . . and strut in his gait Shak.

To obstruct, as any of the organs; to affect with some obstruction in the organs of sense or respiration. I'm stuffed, cousin; I can not smell. Shak.

sure or the force of an argument, or to justify opinions or conduct; a shift; an evasion. Affect not little shifts and subterfuges, to avoid the force of an argument. I. Watts. By a miserable subterfuge, they hope to render this position safe by rendering it nugatory. Burke.

To undergo; to be affected by; to sustain; to experience; as, most substances suffer a change when long exposed to air and moisture; to suffer loss or damage. If your more ponderous and settled project May suffer alteration. Shak.

ous dance rhythms, with sometimes an elaborate prelude. Some composers of the present day affect the suite form.

Gloomily angry and silent; cross; sour; affected with ill humor; morose. And sullen I forsook the imperfect feast. Prior.

Any affection produced by the action of the sun on some part of the body; especially, a sudden prostration of the physical powers, with symptoms resembling those of apoplexy, occasioned by exposure to excessive heat, and often terminating fatally; coup de soleil.

Overcome by, or affected with, sunstroke; as, sun-struck soldiers.