Definition of "rigor" []

• Strictness or severity, as in temperament, action, or judgment. (noun)
• A harsh or trying circumstance; hardship. See Synonyms at difficulty. (noun)
• A harsh or cruel act. (noun)
• Medicine Shivering or trembling, as caused by a chill. (noun)
• Physiology A state of rigidity in living tissues or organs that prevents response to stimuli. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Whatever this kind of blog discourse may lack in conventional "rigor" is certainly balanced out by its immediacy and its enthusiasm."
• "So the book added a certain rigor and pushed me to make the ‘project’ whole and complete on some level."
• "Further, as physicists understand, but many economists do not, rigor is not the same as mathematical formalism."