unstiffen

U1N1S1T1I1F4F4E1N1

verb

To remove the stiffness from; to relax; to make pliant.

Scrabble 15
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Meanings

verbunstiffen (third-person singular simple present unstiffens, present participle unstiffening, simple past and past participle unstiffened)

present singular third person unstiffens · participle present unstiffening · participle past unstiffened · past unstiffened

  1. To remove the stiffness from; to relax; to make pliant.
    1 more example

    We stopped here about ten o'clock this morning, and I was so tired and stiff after the long night wedged in tight in the railway carriage that I got out to get some air and unstiffen myself, instinctively clutching my fiddle-case; and a Bavarian officer on the platform, watching the train with some soldiers, saw me and came over to me at once and demanded to see my papers.

    1917, Alice Cholmondeley, Christine

Origin

From un- + stiffen.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

unstiffen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unstiffen

MLA

“unstiffen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unstiffen. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unstiffen,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unstiffen.

Source: unstiffen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.