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rigor

noun

rig·orˈri-gər How to pronounce rigor (audio)

a(1)

:harsh inflexibility in opinion, temper, or judgment:severity

The least one might observe is that this muddle of moralism and laxity, extremerigor and casual permissiveness, arduous altruism and nonchalant selfishness, has consequences.—

Peter Berkowitz

(2)

:the quality of being unyielding or inflexible:strictness

Their abandonment of this terminology is part of an effort to soften therigor of some of the rigid consequences thought to flow from the mechanical application of this dichotomy.—

John D. Calamari and Joseph M. Perillo

(3)

:severity of life:austerity

… a moralrigor and growth that might help this country.—

Stanley Kauffmann

:an act or instance of strictness, severity, or cruelty

… the humanist must recognize the normality, the practical necessity of the veryrigors he is trying to soften and correct.—

Hermann J. Muller

:a tremor caused by a chill

This young woman presented at the hospital with severe abdominal pain and signs of infection, including fever,rigor, and leukocytosis.—

Robert E. Scully et al.

:a condition that makes life difficult, challenging, or uncomfortable

especially:extremity of cold

therigors of a New England winter

:strict precision:exactness

logicalrigor

Tentatively one might suggest that what characterizes science is therigor of its methodology …—

Ernst Mayr

obsolete:rigidity,stiffness

:rigidness or torpor of organs or tissue that prevents response to stimuli

:rigor mortis

A fish has its best flavor and texture when cooked while just coming out ofrigor.—

Jane Daniels Lear

Synonyms

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples ofrigor in a Sentence

They underwent therigors of military training. therigors of life in the wilderness They conducted the experiments with scientificrigor. a scholar known for her intellectualrigor

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage.Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.Send us feedback.

On the other hand, the abrupt reversal could cause reputational damage if it’s seen as over-promising or sidestepping regulatoryrigor.—

Sandy Carter,Forbes.com, 7 July 2025The school scores high in diversity of the student body, college prep, quality of teachers and academicrigor.—

Charlie Finnerty,Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025In such a situation, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company is entering a quiet revolution in prescription botanical medicine, one that combines the best of nature with therigorof pharmaceutical science.—

Jason Phillips,USA Today, 30 June 2025The search for extraterrestrial life is not held to a higher standard of scientificrigorbut it is constrained by an inability to independently detect and attribute multiple lines of evidence.—

Oliver Swainston,Space.com, 28 June 2025See All Example Sentences forrigor