rigid
/ˈɹɪd͡ʒ.ɪd/ adjective, noun
Forms rigider rigidest rigids
- adjective Stiff, rather than flexible.
- adjective Having inflexible thoughts, opinions, or beliefs.
- adjective Fixed, rather than moving.
- adjective Rigorous and unbending.
- adjective Uncompromising. “Despite arguments to the contrary, she remained rigid in her stand.”
- noun (aviation) An airship whose shape is maintained solely by an internal and/or external rigid structural framework, without using internal gas pressure to stiffen the vehicle (the lifting gas is at atmospheric pressure); typically also equipped with multiple redundant gasbags, unlike other types of airship. “The rigid could reach the greatest sizes and speeds of any airship, but was expensive to build and bulky to store. Rigids fell out of favor after the R101 and Hindenburg disasters made the type seem unsafe to the travelling public.”
- noun A bicycle with no suspension system.
Synonyms
inflexible firm frozen hard hardened immalleable ossified petrified solid stark stubborn stiff taut tight unbending unlimber unyielding static stuck unmovable strict fixed set
Antonyms
flexible bain bendable bendsome bendy flexile limber lithe moving ambulatory animate kinetic nonrigid
Etymology
From Middle English rigide, from Latin rigidus (“stiff”), from rigeō (“to be stiff”). Compare rigor. Merged with Middle English rigged, rygged, rugged (“upright like a spine, rigid”, literally “ridged”).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Firm; stiff; unyielding; not pliant; not flexible.
- adjective Hence, not lax or indulgent; severe; inflexible; strict; as, a rigid father or master; rigid discipline; rigid criticism; a rigid sentence.
Etymology [L. rigidus, fr. rigere to be stiff or numb: cf. F. rigide. Cf. Rigor.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “rigid”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details