rigorous

[ rig-er-uhs ]

adjective

1. characterized by rigor; rigidly severe or harsh, as people, rules, or discipline:

   rigorous laws.

   Synonyms: unyielding, stiff, inflexible, hard, austere, stern

   Antonyms: soft, flexible

2. severely exact or accurate; precise:

   rigorous research.

   Synonyms: finical, demanding

   Antonyms: inaccurate

3. (of weather or climate) uncomfortably severe or harsh; extremely inclement.

   Synonyms: bitter, hard

   Antonyms: mild

4. Logic, Mathematics. logically valid.

rigorous

/ ˈrɪɡərəs /

adjective

1. characterized by or proceeding from rigour; harsh, strict, or severe

   rigorous discipline

2. severely accurate; scrupulous

   rigorous book-keeping

3. (esp of weather) extreme or harsh
4. maths logic (of a proof) making the validity of the successive steps completely explicit

Derived Forms

• ˈrigorously, adverb
• ˈrigorousness, noun

Other Words From

• rig·or·ous·ly adverb
• rig·or·ous·ness noun
• o·ver·rig·or·ous adjective
• o·ver·rig·or·ous·ness noun
• self-rig·or·ous adjective
• sem·i·rig·or·ous adjective
• sem·i·rig·or·ous·ness noun
• un·rig·or·ous adjective
• un·rig·or·ous·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of rigorous¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Medieval Latin rigōrōsus; rigor, -ous

Synonym Study

See strict.

Example Sentences

But Olds did more than build Nurse-Family Partnership; he did the rigorous evaluation to prove it would work.

From The Daily Beast

All of this requires rigorous self-examination: When you can be anything you want to be, what do you want to be?

From The Daily Beast

She had all the pressure of people in the spotlight and was unbelievably rigorous about keeping it real.

From The Daily Beast

Turning the tide of the epidemic, he says, will require “rigorous contact, tracing, and quarantining.”

From The Daily Beast

They are tight exercises in genre filmmaking, both formally rigorous and emotionally involving.

From The Daily Beast

It is evident that the literal and rigorous practice of the Divine morality of the Christians would lead nations to ruin.

From Project Gutenberg

It is probable that parental and filial affection (piets) made this hardship less rigorous than it now seems to us (32, 33).

From Project Gutenberg

It has also been suggested that custom and piets had made this condition less rigorous than it seems to us.

From Project Gutenberg

Winston is rigorous in requiring what is due to his position—is, in some respects, a fearful formalist.

From Project Gutenberg

See p. 15 for a more rigorous statement concerning the volume.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• accurate
• brutal
• burdensome
• correct
• exacting
• harsh
• meticulous
• onerous
• precise
• proper
• rigid
• scrupulous
• strict
• stringent
• uncompromising