RIG'ID, a. [Gr. to be stiff; L. frigeo, frigidus; Heb. to be still, to be stiff.] 1. Stiff; not pliant; not easily bent. It is applied to bodies or substances that are naturally soft or flexible, but not fluid. We never say, a rigid stone or rigid iron, nor do we say, rigid ice; but we say, an animal body or limb, when cold, is rigid. Rigid is then opposed to flexible, but expresses less than inflexible.2. Strict in opinion, practice or discipline; severe in temper; opposed to lax or indulgent; as a rigid father or master; a rigid officer.3. Strict; exact; as a rigid law or rule; rigid discipline; rigid criticism.4. Severely just; as a rigid sentence or judgment.5. Exactly according to the sentence or law; as rigid execution.
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