| Main Entry: | stringent |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | rigid, tight |
Synonyms: |
acrimonious, binding, brick-wall, by the book, by the numbers, compelling, confining, convincing, dead set on, demanding, draconian, drawing, dyed-in-the-wool, exacting, forceful, hard, hard-nosed, harsh, inflexible, iron-fisted, ironclad, picky, poignant, powerful, rigorous, rough, set, severe, stiff, strict, tough, unpermissive, valid |
| Notes: | stringent often means simply 'strict, strictly regulated' and also 'tight or constricted' and emphasizes the narrowness of what is permitted, while strict emphasizes the sternness with which something is enforced |
Antonyms: |
flexible, inexact, tolerant |
| Main Entry: | austere |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | severe in manner |
Synonyms: |
ascetic, astringent, cold, earnest, exacting, forbidding, formal, grave, grim, hard, harsh, inexorable, inflexible, obdurate, rigid, rigorous, serious, sober, solemn, somber, stern, stiff, strict, stringent, unfeeling, unrelenting |
Antonyms: |
bland, calm, gentle, meek, mild |
| Main Entry: | demanding |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | challenging, urgent |
Synonyms: |
ambitious, backbreaker, bothersome, clamorous, critical, dictatorial, difficult, exacting, exhausting, exigent, fussy, grievous, hard, imperious, importunate, insistent, nagging, onerous, oppressive, pressing, querulous, strict, stringent, taxing, tough, troublesome, trying, wearing, weighty |
Antonyms: |
easy, facile, trivial, unchallenging, undemanding |
| Main Entry: | dour |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | gloomy, grim |
Synonyms: |
bleak, crabbed, dismal, dreary, forbidding, glum, hard, harsh, morose, saturnine, severe, sour, stringent, sulky, sullen, surly, ugly, unfriendly |
Antonyms: |
bright, cheerful, cheery, happy |
| Main Entry: | exacting |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | demanding |
Synonyms: |
burdensome, by the book, careful, critical, difficult, exigent, finicky, fussy, grievous, hard, harsh, hypercritical, imperious, nit-picking, onerous, oppressive, painstaking, particular, persnickety, picky, precise, rigid, rigorous, severe, stern, strict, stringent, taxing, tough, trying, unsparing, weighty |
Antonyms: |
giving, lending |
| Main Entry: | exigent |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult, taxing |
Synonyms: |
arduous, burdensome, demanding, exacting, grievous, hard, harsh, onerous, oppressive, rigorous, severe, stiff, strict, stringent, superincumbent, tough, weighty |
Antonyms: |
easy, facile, unpressured |
| Main Entry: | forced |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | compulsory, strained |
Synonyms: |
affected, artificial, begrudging, binding, bound, coerced, coercive, compelled, conscripted, constrained, contrived, enforced, factitious, false, grudging, inflexible, insincere, involuntary, labored, mandatory, obligatory, peremptory, rigid, slave, stiff, stringent, unnatural, unwilling, wooden |
| Notes: | forcible indicates the use of brute force, forced means done involuntarily, and forceful suggests a potential for force |
Antonyms: |
noncompulsory, spontaneous, unforced, voluntary |
| Main Entry: | forceful |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | effective, powerful |
Synonyms: |
ball of fire, bullish, cogent, coming on strong, commanding, compelling, constraining, convincing, dominant, dynamic, electric, elemental, energetic, forcible, gutsy, mighty, persuasive, pithy, potent, powerhouse, puissant, punch, punchy, steamroller, stringent, strong, take-charge, take-over, telling, titanic, vehement, vigorous, violent, virile, weighty |
Antonyms: |
feeble, impotent, ineffective, meek, unforceful, weak |
| Main Entry: | hard |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | cruel, ruthless |
Synonyms: |
acrimonious, angry, antagonistic, austere, bitter, bleak, brutal, callous, cold, cold fish, cold-blooded, dark, disagreeable, distressing, dour, exacting, grievous, grim, hard as nails, hard-boiled, harsh, hostile, inclement, intemperate, intolerable, obdurate, painful, perverse, pitiless, rancorous, resentful, rigorous, rugged, severe, stern, strict, stringent, stubborn, thick-skinned, tough, unfeeling, unjust, unkind, unpleasant, unrelenting, unsparing, unsympathetic, vengeful |
Antonyms: |
merciful, mild, nice, pleasant, sensitive, sympathetic |
| Main Entry: | harsh |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | nasty, abusive |
Synonyms: |
austere, bitter, brutal, comfortless, cruel, cussed, discourteous, dour, grim, gruff, hairy*, hard, hard-boiled, hard-nosed, hard-shell, mean, pitiless, punitive, relentless, rude, ruthless, severe, sharp, stern, stringent, tough, uncivil, unfeeling, ungracious, unkind, unpleasant, unrelenting, wicked |
Antonyms: |
courteous, kind, nice, polite |