List of 426 Sets of Synonyms - How they Differ - Total of 2307 Words - 373

SYNONYMS: stiff, rigid, inflexible, inelastic, tense.
These adjectives are compared as they describe what is very firm and does not easily bend or give way.

Stiff, Friday, October 23, 2009the least specific, refers to what can be flexed only with difficulty (a brush with stiff bristles; a stiff collar); with reference to persons it often suggests a lack of ease, cold formality, or fixity, as of purpose: stiff in opinions.
Rigid and inflexible apply to what cannot be bent without damage or deformation (a table made of rigid plastic; an inflexible knife blade); figuratively they describe what does not relent or yield: under the dictates of a rigid disciplinarian. In religion the law is written, and inflexible, never to do evil.
Inelastic refers largely to what lacks elasticity and so will not stretch and spring back without marked physical change: an inelastic substance.
Tense means stretched tight; it is applied literally to body structures such as muscles and figuratively to what is marked by tautness or strain: It was a tense moment.