mindmap root((僵硬)) stiff may apply to any degree of this condition: muscles will become ~ if they are not stretched. rigid applies to something so stiff that it can't be bent without breaking: a ~ surfboard. inflexible stresses lack of suppleness or pliability: for adequate support, rock-climbers wear shoes with ~ soles. tense suggests a stretching or straining to the point where elasticity or flexibility is lost: ~ nerves. wooden suggests the hard inflexibility and dry rigidity of wood and connotes stiffness and lack of life and often clumsy or heavy deadness: moved in a start ~ manner.