stiff-upper-lippy

adjective

Having, resembling, or characteristic of a stiff upper lip; stoic.

Meanings

adjectivestiff-upper-lippy (comparative more stiff-upper-lippy, superlative most stiff-upper-lippy)

comparative more stiff-upper-lippy · superlative most stiff-upper-lippy · alternative stiff upper lippy

  1. informaluncommonHaving, resembling, or characteristic of a stiff upper lip; stoic.

    I’m trying to be stiff-upper-lippy.

    2001 October 2, Marti Noxon, “Bargaining”, in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 6, episode 1, spoken by Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), Los Angeles, Calif.: UPN
    2 more examples

    “Keep calm and carry on,” a British government propaganda poster created in 1939, is now decorating offices. […] “It looks quiet and nice and sort of stiff-upper-lippy,” Mr. [David] Lubars said.

    2009 November 22, Stephanie Clifford, “Calming Sign of Troubled Past Appears in Modern Offices”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 Apr 2012

    Character development? These people are, for the most part, unchanged — they’re The Walking Living. Sheriff Rick [Grimes] is still stiff-upper-lippy unless a member of his family is in danger (more about that later).

    2011 October 16, Ken Tucker, “'The Walking Dead' season premiere review: Zombie repetition”, in Entertainment Weekly, New York, N.Y., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Jan 2021

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

stiff-upper-lippy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stiff-upper-lippy

MLA

“stiff-upper-lippy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stiff-upper-lippy. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stiff-upper-lippy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stiff-upper-lippy.

Source: stiff-upper-lippy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.