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Webster 1913 Edition


Rigid

Rig′id

,
Adj.
[L.
rigidus
, fr.
rigere
to be stiff or numb: cf. F.
rigide
. Cf.
Rigor
. ]
1.
Firm; stiff; unyielding; not pliant; not flexible.
Upright beams innumerable
Of
rigid
spears.
Milton.
2.
Hence, not lax or indulgent; severe; inflexible; strict;
as, a
rigid
father or master;
rigid
discipline;
rigid
criticism;
a rigid
sentence.
The more
rigid
order of principles in religion and government.
Hawthorne.
Syn. – Stiff; unpliant; inflexible; unyielding; strict; exact; severe; austere; stern; rigorous; unmitigated.

Webster 1828 Edition


Rigid

RIG'ID

,
Adj.
[Gr. to be stiff; L. frigeo, frigidus; Heb. to be still, to be stiff.]
1.
Stiff; not pliant; not easily bent. It is applied to bodies or substances that are naturally soft or flexible, but not fluid. We never say, a rigid stone or rigid iron, nor do we say, rigid ice; but we say, an animal body or limb, when cold, is rigid. Rigid is then opposed to flexible, but expresses less than inflexible.
2.
Strict in opinion, practice or discipline; severe in temper; opposed to lax or indulgent; as a rigid father or master; a rigid officer.
3.
Strict; exact; as a rigid law or rule; rigid discipline; rigid criticism.
4.
Severely just; as a rigid sentence or judgment.
5.
Exactly according to the sentence or law; as rigid execution.

Definition 2024


rigid

rigid

See also: rígid

English

Adjective

rigid (comparative rigider or more rigid, superlative rigidest or most rigid)

  1. Stiff, rather than flexible.
  2. Fixed, rather than moving.
    • 2011,David Foster Wallace, The Pale King,Penguin Books, page 5:
      A sunflower, four more, one bowed, and horses in the distance standing rigid and still as toys.
  3. Rigorous and unbending.
  4. Uncompromising.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

rigid (plural rigids)

  1. A bicycle with no suspension system.

References

  • rigid in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • rigid in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Old Irish

Verb

rigid

  1. to stretch, to distend

Inflection

References

  • rigid” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.