Adjacent Words

Strict definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

STRICT, a. [L. See Strain.]
1. Strained; drawn close; tight; as a strict embrace; a strict ligature.
2. Tense; not relaxed; as a strict or lax fiber.
3. Exact; accurate; rigorously nice; as, to keep strict watch. Observe the strictest rules of virtue and decorum.
4. Severe; rigorous; governed or governing by exact rules; observing exact rules; as, the father is very strict in observing the sabbath. The master is very strict with his apprentices.
5. Rigorous; not mild or indulgent; as strict laws.
6. Confined; limited; not with latitude; as, to understand words in a strict sense.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: rigidly accurate; allowing no deviation from a standard; "rigorous application of the law"; "a strict vegetarian" [syn: rigorous, strict]
2: (of rules) stringently enforced; "hard-and-fast rules" [syn: hard-and-fast, strict]
3: characterized by strictness, severity, or restraint [syn: nonindulgent, strict] [ant: indulgent]
4: incapable of compromise or flexibility [syn: rigid, strict]
5: severe and unremitting in making demands; "an exacting instructor"; "a stern disciplinarian"; "strict standards" [syn: stern, strict, exacting]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English stricte, from Latin strictus, from past participle of stringere to bind tight — more at strain Date: 15th century 1. archaic a. tight, close; also intimate b. narrow 2. a. stringent in requirement or control <under strict orders> b. severe in discipline <a strict teacher> 3. a. inflexibly maintained or adhered to <strict secrecy> b. rigorously conforming to principle or a norm or condition 4. exact, precise <in the strict sense of the word> 5. of narrow erect habit of growth <a strict inflorescence> Synonyms: see rigid • strictly adverb • strictness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 precisely limited or defined; without exception or deviation (lives in strict seclusion). 2 requiring complete compliance or exact performance; enforced rigidly (gave strict orders). Derivatives: strictness n. Etymology: L strictus past part. of stringere tighten

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Strict Strict, a. [Compar. Stricter; superl. Strictest.] [L. strictus, p. p. of stringere to draw or bind tight, to strain. See Strain, and cf. Strait, a.] 1. Strained; drawn close; tight; as, a strict embrace; a strict ligature. --Dryden. 2. Tense; not relaxed; as, a strict fiber. 3. Exact; accurate; precise; rigorously nice; as, to keep strict watch; to pay strict attention. --Shak. It shall be still in strictest measure. --Milton. 4. Governed or governing by exact rules; observing exact rules; severe; rigorous; as, very strict in observing the Sabbath. ``Through the strict senteries.'' --Milton. 5. Rigidly; interpreted; exactly limited; confined; restricted; as, to understand words in a strict sense. 6. (Bot.) Upright, or straight and narrow; -- said of the shape of the plants or their flower clusters. Syn: Exact; accurate; nice; close; rigorous; severe. Usage: Strict, Severe. Strict, applied to a person, denotes that he conforms in his motives and acts to a principle or code by which he is bound; severe is strict with an implication often, but not always, of harshness. Strict is opposed to lax; severe is opposed to gentle. And rules as strict his labored work confine, As if the Stagirite o'erlooked each line. --Pope. Soon moved with touch of blame, thus Eve: - ``What words have passed thy lips, Adam severe!'' --Milton. The Strict Observance, or Friars of the Strict Observance. (R. C. Ch.) See Observance.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(stricter, strictest) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A strict rule or order is very clear and precise or severe and must always be obeyed completely. The officials had issued strict instructions that we were not to get out of the jeep... French privacy laws are very strict... All your replies will be treated in the strictest confidence... ADJ • strictly The acceptance of new members is strictly controlled. ADV: ADV with v 2. If a parent or other person in authority is strict, they regard many actions as unacceptable and do not allow them. My parents were very strict. ...a few schools selected for their high standards and their strict discipline. ADJ • strictly My own mother was brought up very strictly and correctly. ADV 3. If you talk about the strict meaning of something, you mean the precise meaning of it. It's not quite peace in the strictest sense of the word, rather the absence of war. ADJ: ADJ n • strictly Actually, that is not strictly true... Strictly speaking, it is not one house at all, but three houses joined together. ADV: ADV adj see also strict 4. You use strict to describe someone who never does things that are against their beliefs. Four million Britons are now strict vegetarians... ADJ: ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Tight, strained, tense, close. 2. Tense. 3. Exact, accurate, precise, very nice, careful, scrupulous, particular, close. 4. Severe, rigorous, stringent, stern, austere, harsh, uncompromising, strait-laced. 5. Confined, limited, restricted, exact.

Moby Thesaurus

Sabbatarian, Spartan, Spartanic, absolute, absolutist, absolutistic, accurate, arbitrary, aristocratic, arrogant, aspersion, astringent, attentive, austere, authoritarian, authoritative, autocratic, bigoted, bossy, careful, censorious, choicy, choosy, circumscription, close, cold-blooded, complete, compulsive, confining, conscientious, constant, constrictive, correct, cramp, creedbound, critical, defined, delicate, demanding, despotic, detailed, dictatorial, direct, discriminating, discriminative, dogmatic, domineering, dour, draconian, evangelical, even, exact, exacting, exigent, express, exquisite, faithful, fastidious, feudal, fine, finical, finicking, finicky, firm, forbidding, fundamentalist, fussy, grim, grinding, hard, hard-boiled, harsh, hidebound, high-handed, hyperorthodox, imperative, imperial, imperious, inerrable, inerrant, infallible, inflexible, ironhanded, just, limitation, literalist, literalistic, lordly, magisterial, magistral, masterful, mathematical, meticulous, micrometrically precise, microscopic, minute, monocratic, narrow, nice, obloquy, oppressive, overbearing, overconscientious, overruling, overscrupulous, particular, peremptory, perfectionistic, picky, pinpoint, pitiless, precise, precisianist, precisianistic, precisionistic, priggish, prudish, punctilious, punctual, purist, puristic, puritanic, puritanical, refined, reflection, religious, religiously exact, repressive, right, rigid, rigorist, rigorous, rugged, ruthless, scientific, scientifically exact, scrupulous, scrutinizing, selective, sensitive, severe, slam, slur, square, staunch, stern, stint, straitlaced, stricture, stringent, subtle, suppressive, tender-conscienced, thorough, tough, tyrannical, tyrannous, uncompromising, undeviating, undistorted, unerring, unsparing, unsympathetic, veracious, veridical