RIGID


Meaning of RIGID in English

ˈrijə̇d adjective

Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French rigide, from Latin rigidus, from rigēre to be stiff; perhaps akin to Latin regere to lead straight, guide, rule — more at right

1.

a. : very firm rather than pliant in composition or structure : lacking or devoid of flexibility : inflexible in nature : hard

metals are not perfectly rigid but elastic — Charles Babbage

a rigid totalitarian system — Harrison Smith

rigid governmental controls

b. : stiff and unyielding in appearance

his face was rigid with pain

2.

a. : inflexibly fixed or set in opinion : scrupulously exact with respect to opinions or observances

rigid on points of theology — G.R.Crone

a rigid Catholic

s

b. : strictly observed : characterized by scrupulous exactness in observance

rigid principles of honesty

rigid adherence to rules

condemns the rigid observance of artistic conventions — Laurence Binyon

3. : rigorous or harsh in character : inflexible rather than lax or indulgent : severe

rigid inquiry

a rigid schoolmaster

rigid treatment

4. : precise and accurate in procedure : exact in method : characterized by an undeviating adherence to strict accuracy

rigid control of chemical composition and processing methods — Steel

5.

a. : having the gas containers enclosed within compartments of a fixed fabric-covered framework or hull that carries cabins, gondolas, and motors

a rigid airship

b. : having the outer shape maintained by a fixed framework

6. : of, relating to, or constituting a branch of dynamics in which the bodies whose motions are considered are treated as being absolutely invariable in shape and size under the application of force

Synonyms:

rigorous , strict , stringent : rigid may suggest stiff, uncompromising or unbending inflexibility

a rigid system, faithfully administered, would be better than a slatternly compromise — A.C.Benson

the Mosaic conception of morality as a code of rigid and inflexible rules, arbitrarily ordained, and to be blindly obeyed — Havelock Ellis

rigorous suggests a harsh, severe, inflexible exaction or imposition unabated or unmitigated and entailing hardship and difficulty

the king, therefore, although far from clement, was not extremely rigorous. He refused the object of the appeal, but he did not put the envoys to death — J.L.Motley

to stay in the harsh, cruel, cold climate and endure the cramped and rigorous life of the struggling back-country settlement — B.K.Sandwell

a time-table almost as rigorous as that of the locomotive engineer — Lewis Mumford

strict implies tight conformity ruling out deviation, looseness, laxity, latitude, or mitigation

strict enforcement of the speed laws

ritual is not easy compliance with usage; it is strict compliance with detailed and punctilious rule — W.G.Sumner

stringent suggests severe, tight restriction, constriction, or limitation that checks, curbs, circumscribes, or coerces

he bound me in the most stringent terms to say no further word to himself, his methods, or his successes — A. Conan Doyle

the law was so stringent that magazines containing patent medicine advertising could not be shipped into the Philippines unless the formulae were published — V.G.Heiser

the legal terms of his bondage became more stringent, the possibility of emancipation narrower, and the regulation of the emancipated more restrictive — Oscar Handlin

Synonym: see in addition stiff .

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.