Standard Lemma guide

rigidity

noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ɹɪˈd͡ʒɪdɪti/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: R IH0 JH IH1 D AH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The quality or state of being rigid; lack of pliability; the quality of resisting change of physical shape.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • moral rigidity
  • The metal’s rigidity made it hard to bend.
  • She disliked the rigidity of the rules.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The amount of resistance with which a body opposes change of form.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • structural rigidity

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Stiffness of appearance or manner; want of ease or elegance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • speak with excessive rigidity

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

stickiness (of prices/wages etc.). Describing the tendency of prices and money wages to adjust to changes in the economy with a certain delay.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: economics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

the quality of being rigid and rigorously severe

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: inflexibility, rigidness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: unadaptability

6

noun

Meaning 6

the physical property of being stiff and resisting bending

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: rigidness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: inelasticity

Narrower terms: inflexibility, inflexibleness

History

Etymology

From rigid + -ity, from Latin rigiditas.

Across languages

Translations

26 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Asturian: rixidez — The quality or state of being rigid
  • Bulgarian: скованост (skovanost) — The quality or state of being rigid
  • Bulgarian: неподвижност (nepodvižnost) — The quality or state of being rigid
  • Catalan: rigidesa — The quality or state of being rigid
  • Catalan: rigiditat — The quality or state of being rigid
  • Finnish: jäykkyys — The quality or state of being rigid
  • Finnish: kankeus — The quality or state of being rigid
  • French: rigidité — The quality or state of being rigid
  • French: raideur — The quality or state of being rigid
  • Galician: rixidez — The quality or state of being rigid
  • German: Festigkeit — The quality or state of being rigid
  • Hindi: कठोरता (kaṭhortā) — The quality or state of being rigid
  • Hungarian: merevség — The quality or state of being rigid
  • Italian: rigidità — The quality or state of being rigid
  • Latin: rigor — The quality or state of being rigid
  • Latvian: stingums — The quality or state of being rigid
  • Malayalam: ദൃഢത (dr̥ḍhata) — The quality or state of being rigid
  • Portuguese: rigidez — The quality or state of being rigid
  • Romanian: rigiditate — The quality or state of being rigid
  • Russian: жёсткость (žóstkostʹ) — The quality or state of being rigid
  • Spanish: rigidez — The quality or state of being rigid
  • Ukrainian: жо́рсткість (žórstkistʹ) — The quality or state of being rigid
  • Bulgarian: принуденост (prinudenost) — Stiffness of appearance or manner
  • Bulgarian: неелегантност (neelegantnost) — Stiffness of appearance or manner
  • Finnish: jäykkyys — Stiffness of appearance or manner
  • Latvian: stingums — Stiffness of appearance or manner