Definition of STRINGENT

Choose the Right Synonym for stringent

rigid, rigorous, strict, stringent mean extremely severe or stern. rigid implies uncompromising inflexibility. rigid rules of conduct rigorous implies the imposition of hardship and difficulty. the rigorous training of recruits strict emphasizes undeviating conformity to rules, standards, or requirements. strict enforcement of the law stringent suggests severe, tight restriction or limitation. stringent standards of admission

How Should You Use stringent?

Words that are synonymous with stringent include rigid, which implies uncompromising inflexibility ("rigid rules of conduct"), and rigorous, which suggests hardship and difficulty ("the rigorous training of firefighters"). Also closely related is strict, which emphasizes undeviating conformity to rules, standards, or requirements ("strict enforcement of the law"). Stringent usually involves severe, tight restrictions or limitations ("the college has stringent admissions rules"). That's logical. After all, rigorous and rigid are both derived from rigēre, the Latin word meaning "to be stiff," and stringent and strict developed from the Latin verb stringere, meaning "to bind tight."

Examples of stringent in a Sentence

stringent rules against unauthorized persons being in the building “You’d need top grades for that,” said professor McGonagall, extracting a small, dark leaflet from under the mass on her desk and opening it. “They ask for a minimum of five N.E.W.T.s, and nothing under ‘Exceeds Expectations’ grade, I see. Then you would be required to undergo a stringent series of character and aptitude tests at the Auror office. It’s a difficult career path, Potter; they only take the best. In fact, I don’t think anybody has been taken on in the last three years.” —“Career Advice” P. 662, HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, J. K. Rowling, Scholastic Press, Scholastic Inc., ©2003 Waugh was by then an established novelist, known for such stringent satires as Vile Bodies, Black Mischief, and his other work of the 1930s, and for Brideshead Revisited—all of which are far better known in the United States than Sword of Honour, his masterpiece. —"Books & Critics" P. 128, Penelope Lively, THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY Vol. 287 No. 2, February 2001 Throughout Canada and the United States, a beneficiary who is convicted in a criminal court proceeding of intentionally murdering the insured is disqualified from receiving life insurance policy proceeds. In many states and throughout Canada, a beneficiary who is convicted of a lesser offense––such as manslaughter––is also disqualified from receiving policy proceeds. Laws in Quebec are even more stringent; a beneficiary who attempts to kills the insured––even if that attempt is unsuccessful––is prohibited from receiving life insurance policy proceeds. —"Chapter Fourteen" P. 276, PRINCIPLES OF INSURANCE: LIFE, HEALTH, AND ANNUITIES, Harriett E. Jones, JD, FLMI, ACS et al., LOMA 1996 Ellison argued in his essay “What America Would Be Like Without Blacks” that blacks, constitutive of Americanness rather than candidates for it, are the moral center of America’s complex hybrid culture. They push democratic culture toward fruition, with the most obvious test being “the inclusion—not assimilation—of the black man.” America “could not survive being deprived of their presence because, by the irony implicit in the dynamics of American democracy, they symbolize both its most stringent testing and the possibility of its greatest human freedom,” he wrote. Toni Morrison’s best-selling book of essays, Playing in the Dark, can be read as an extended meditation on Ellison’s belief in the centrality of African-Americans for American literature. “The presence of black people is inherent, along with gender and family ties, in the earliest lesson every child is taught regarding his or her distinctiveness,” she writes. “Africanism is inextricable from the definition of Americanness.” Ellison wrote, “Whatever else the true American is, he is also somehow black.” —“The New Intellectuals” P. 67, Robert S. Boynton, THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY Vol. 275 No. 3, March 1995

Recent Examples on the Web

Texas has some of the strongest laws, requiring clinics to meet stringent requirements that legislators say would protect the health of women seeking abortions. — NBC News, "Abortion in the U.S.: Five key facts," 5 July 2018 In Texas, employers can have stringent requirements for background checks, so shelter case managers have a hard time placing their residents in jobs, explains Kirsten Ham, director of business development for Clean Slate. — Tracy Saelinger, Woman's Day, "These 3 Companies Help At-Risk Women and Are Changing the World," 2 July 2018 Airboat operators carrying passengers on their boats will soon have more stringent requirements to pilot their vessels, after a deadly crash that killed a University of Miami graduate last year. — Elizabeth Koh, miamiherald, "FWC sets new requirements for airboat operators, spurred by death of UM grad," 22 June 2018 However, the creation of an escrow fund to pay future fines implies that the Commerce Department knows that even with the agreement’s new stringent compliance requirements, ZTE’s unchanged behaviors may get it into hot water down the road. — Annie Fixler, Fortune, "How Bailing Out ZTE Damaged America’s Credibility," 12 June 2018 Less stringent requirements would apply to banks that do less trading. — Marcy Gordon, USA TODAY, "Fed proposes easing Volcker rule that limits risky bank trading," 30 May 2018 But Heller did not mention Israel’s more-stringent gun control requirements, including mental and physical exams for potential gun owners. — Dan Sweeney, Sun-Sentinel.com, "As others protest guns, student hosts forum supporting Second Amendment," 20 Apr. 2018 For Levitan, who leads a student group advocating for more-stringent gun-control laws, gun violence is personal. — Washington Post, "On the anniversary of the Columbine shooting, some students plan to walk out," 18 Apr. 2018 Despite stringent laws and repeated protests, the scourge has continued in the country, where women are still often relegated to second-class citizenship. — Fox News, "India court rejects death sentence appeal in 2012 gang rape," 10 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'stringent.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.