Home > Terms > English, UK (UE) > Stiff upper lip
Stiff upper lip
One who has a stiff upper lip displays fortitude in the face of adversity, or exercises great self-restraint in the expression of emotion. The phrase is most commonly heard as part of the idiom "keep a stiff upper lip", and has traditionally been used to describe an attribute of British people, who are sometimes perceived by other cultures as being unemotional. A sign of weakness is trembling of the upper lip, hence the saying keep a stiff upper lip. When a person's upper lip begins to tremble, it is one of the first signs that the person is scared or shaken by experiencing deep emotion.
0
0
Improve it
- Part of Speech: noun
- Synonym(s):
- Blossary: American Idiom
- Industry/Domain: Language
- Category: Idioms
- Company:
- Product:
- Acronym-Abbreviation:
Other Languages:
Member comments
Terms in the News
Featured Terms
Crowne Plaza Invitational
The Crowne Plaza Invitational is a PGA golf tournament played annually in May in Fort Worth, Texas on the course at the Colonial Country Club. It is ...
Contributor
Featured blossaries
Browers Terms By Category
- Home theatre system(386)
- Television(289)
- Amplifier(190)
- Digital camera(164)
- Digital photo frame(27)
- Radio(7)
Consumer electronics(1079) Terms
- Dating(35)
- Romantic love(13)
- Platonic love(2)
- Family love(1)
Love(51) Terms
- General accounting(956)
- Auditing(714)
- Tax(314)
- Payroll(302)
- Property(1)
Accounting(2287) Terms
- Cosmetics(80)
Cosmetics & skin care(80) Terms
- General astrology(655)
- Zodiac(168)
- Natal astrology(27)