stiff-arming

verb

present participle of stiff-arm
as in isolating
to deliberately ignore or treat rudely in his sad and lonely old age, he stiff-armed even once-beloved friends

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of stiff-arming The next game, stiff-arming guys. — Sean Joseph Outkick, FOXNews.com, 27 May 2026 After stiff-arming challengers on the front 9, Cink played free and easy. — Jay Paris, Oc Register, 30 Mar. 2026 The 24-song set reeled in an impressive 280,000 equivalent album units, stiff-arming a surging Bad Bunny from pole position. — Carl Lamarre, Billboard, 19 Feb. 2026 Indiana kept its circle tight and held its belief tighter, stiff-arming infiltrators and doubters with equal authority. — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 20 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stiff-arming
  1. isolating
  2. rejecting
  3. snubbing
  4. repulsing
  5. cutting
  6. repelling
  7. slighting
Verb
  • The individual was isolating, and officials were reaching out to anyone who had been exposed, the county health department said.
    — Finch Walker, USA Today, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Existing defenses attempt to stop such attacks by wiping or isolating the processor’s prediction machinery before predictions are used.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of isolating
Verb
  • The Assembly plan calls for rejecting the governor’s cap on certain damages that people can receive.
    — Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The council would have the final say in approving — or rejecting — Lucas’ nomination.
    — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of rejecting
Verb
  • However, when one of the three women feels guilty about snubbing their lifelong pal, Mel shows up and suddenly the weekend turns to complete chaos, tempting the trio to break free from the madness that has hobbled their friend group for years.
    — Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Yet no one hauled him before Congress to answer for stoking racial tensions, snubbing George Washington, or making America sad on her birthday.
    — Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of snubbing
Verb
  • While there are dismemberments and other bits of gruesome violence to be found in the film, Badlands is largely aimed at endearing its audience rather than repulsing them.
    — Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 4 Nov. 2025
Definition of repulsing
Verb
  • Furthermore, Bailey stated that simply not cutting rates already constitutes monetary policy tightening.
    — , CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Enacting a solution is liable to be a significant political battle, likely involving cutting benefits for some Americans or raising taxes on higher earners, or both.
    — Ashley Lopez, NPR, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of cutting
Verb
  • This is more than a sophisticated arms race aimed at repelling threats and protecting borders.
    — Kamal Ahmed, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026
  • The Build Forward Ukraine team was also aware of Irpin and the special role the city had played in the dark early days, repelling the Russian ground offensive aimed at taking Kyiv, 14 miles south.
    — Howard LaFranchi, Christian Science Monitor, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of repelling
Verb
  • But in discharging this function, poets are in danger of slighting another imperative, namely, to redress poetry as poetry, to set it up as its own category, an eminence established and a pressure exercised by distinctly linguistic means.
    — Nick Laird, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
  • The subtext to the litigation is Oakley’s personal grievance against Dolan, whom the ex-player has long criticized, in part for slighting him compared to other Knicks legends.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 3 Nov. 2025
Definition of slighting

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Cite this Entry

“Stiff-arming.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stiff-arming. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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