stringent

adjective strin·gent \ ˈstrin-jənt \

|Updated on: 13 Aug 2018

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Examples: stringent in a Sentence

Editor's Note: How Should You Use stringent?

Definition of stringent

1 : tight, constricted

2 : marked by rigor, strictness, or severity especially with regard to rule or standard

stringent decontamination procedures

3 : marked by money scarcity and credit strictness

a stringent budget

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stringently

adverb

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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 of stringent from the Web

Firefighters from different departments often work together during emergencies, so association officials decided to put more stringent and uniform standards in place.

— gal tziperman lotan, The Aegis, "About 20 Harford firefighters lose rank by failing to meet deadline for certifications," 11 July 2018
Until recently laws in several European countries—unlike America’s more stringent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act—did not punish bribery in third countries.

— The Economist, "Ely Calil, backer of a farcical coup plot, died on May 28th," 9 June 2018
State law requires the Legislature to approve anything more stringent than the federal rules, Tippet said.

— cynthia sewell, idahostatesman, "In Boise, EPA head Scott Pruitt talks pollution program, ducks ethics questions," 5 June 2018
In fact, lender requirements are very stringent, eliminating the prior crash causation factors.

— phillip molnar, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Econometer: Are we approaching housing bubble territory?," 26 Apr. 2018
And, California, very stringent gun control laws, like, yet, these types of things happens.

— Fox News, "President Trump to sign proclamation sending National Guard troops to the border," 5 Apr. 2018
By contrast, demand for aluminum increased under the stringent Obama-era fuel economy standards, which created a market for more lightweight cars that use aluminum rather than steel.

— New York Times, "How Trump’s Policy Decisions Undermine the Industries He Pledged to Help," 4 July 2018
Unlike pharmaceutical research, which has stringent standards, Silicon Valley’s products are commonly seen as inherently beneficial, and AV companies seem to have carte blanche to test their inventions.

— betsy morais, Longreads, "The Menace and the Promise of Autonomous Vehicles," 13 June 2018
Her administration has allowed universities to use a more stringent standard of evidence for assessing allegations.

— matt hamilton, latimes.com, "USC's handling of complaints about campus gynecologist is being investigated by federal government," 12 June 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.

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."