Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Stiffness \Stiff"ness\, n.
   The quality or state of being stiff; as, the stiffness of
   cloth or of paste; stiffness of manner; stiffness of
   character.

         The vices of old age have the stiffness of it too.
                                                  --South.

Source : WordNet®

stiffness
     n 1: the physical property of being inflexible and hard to bend
     2: the property of moving with pain or difficulty; "he awoke
        with a painful stiffness in his neck"
     3: the inelegance of someone stiff and unrelaxed (as by
        embarrassment) [syn: {awkwardness}, {clumsiness}, {gracelessness}]
     4: excessive sternness; "severity of character"; "the harshness
        of his punishment was inhuman"; "the rigors of boot camp"
        [syn: {severity}, {harshness}, {rigor}, {rigour}, {inclemency},
         {hardness}]