ˈrig(ə)rəs adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin rigorosus, from Latin rigor + -osus -ous
1.
a. : manifesting, exercising, or favoring rigor : allowing no abatement or mitigation : inflexibly strict : inexorable
liquor smuggling … has been another problem … to vex governments seeking to maintain a rigorous policy of liquor control — D.W.McConnell
b. : extremely or excessively strict : harsh , stern
a rigorous academy where the girls wore uniforms, were forbidden to correspond with male contemporaries … and were not given diplomas until they passed college entrance examinations — Robert Rice
juries are now rigorous , now indulgent — F.A.Ogg & Harold Zink
2. : marked by extremes of temperature or climate, barrenness of comforts or necessities, or other strenuous challenging obstacles
the life was rigorous , conditions primitive — American Guide Series: Texas
a combination of high altitudes, rigorous climate, poor drainage and thin soils giving rise to poor land — G.P.Wibberley
3. : scrupulously accurate : exact , precise
the reader, missing … poets whom he expected to find, may complain that my criterion of significance is too rigorous — F.R.Leavis
Synonyms: see rigid