WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
rig•id /ˈrɪdʒɪd/USA pronunciation
adj.
rig•id•ness, n. [uncountable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- stiff;
not easily moved:a rigid strip of metal. - fixed in one's thinking:He can be very rigid when it comes to rules.
- strict or severe:The rules are too rigid.
rig•id•ness, n. [uncountable]
rig•id
(rij′id),USA pronunciation adj.
ri•gid′i•ty, rig′id•ness, n.
rig′id•ly, adv.
- stiff or unyielding;
not pliant or flexible;
hard:a rigid strip of metal. - firmly fixed or set.
- inflexible, strict, or severe:a rigid disciplinarian; rigid rules of social behavior.
- exacting;
thorough;
rigorous:a rigid examination. - so as to meet precise standards;
stringent:lenses ground to rigid specifications. - Mechanics, Physicsof, pertaining to, or noting a body in which the distance between any pair of points remains fixed under all forces;
having infinite values for its shear modulus, bulk modulus, and Young's modulus. - Aeronautics
- (of an airship or dirigible) having a form maintained by a stiff, unyielding structure contained within the envelope.
- pertaining to a helicopter rotor that is held fixedly at its root.
- Latin rigidus, equivalent. to rig(ēre) to be stiff, stiffen + -idus -id4
- 1530–40
rig′id•ly, adv.
- 1. unbending, firm, inflexible. 2. immovable, static. 3. austere, stern, unyielding. See strict. 4. 5. demanding.
- 1. elastic. 3. lax.
'rigidly' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
ascetic
- bolt
- bureaucrat
- goose step
- hardened
- officialdom
- point
- caddie
- drum brake
- dumpy level
- fixed-wing
- fossilize
- freeze
- gi
- hard line
- hard-liner
- hard-set
- joint
- lax
- lockstep
- neoclassic
- pedant
- precise
- puritanical
- Ramadan
- rigorous
- tight-assed
- trestle
- severe
- starch
- stiff