strict

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin strictus, past participle of stringere (“to draw tight, bind, contract”). Doublet of strait and stretto. See stringent, strain.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stɹɪkt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪkt

Adjective

strict (comparative stricter or more strict, superlative strictest or most strict)

1. Strained; drawn close; tight.

   Synonyms: taut, tensioned; see also Thesaurus:taut

   strict embrace

   strict ligature

2. Tense; not relaxed.

   strict fiber

3. Exact; accurate; precise; rigorously particular.

   Synonyms: correct, dead on, thorough; see also Thesaurus:meticulous

   to keep strict watch

   to pay strict attention

4. Governed or governing by exact rules; observing exact rules; severe; rigorous.

   Synonyms: (obsolete) nice, precise, puritanical

   they are very strict in observing the Sabbath

   • 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Hocussing of Cigarette”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:

     No one, however, would have anything to do with him, as Mr. Keeson's orders in those respects were very strict ; he had often threatened any one of his employés with instant dismissal if he found him in company with one of these touts.

5. Rigidly interpreted; exactly limited; confined; restricted.

   Synonyms: narrow, proper

   to understand words in a strict sense

6. (botany) Upright, or straight and narrow; — said of the shape of the plants or their flower clusters.
7. Severe in discipline.

   Synonyms: brutal, harsh, stringent, tough; see also Thesaurus:stern

   Antonyms: lenient, lax, permissive

   Our teacher was always very strict. If we didn't behave, we would get punished.

   It was a very strict lesson.

8. (set theory, order theory) Irreflexive; if the described object is defined to be reflexive, that condition is overridden and replaced with irreflexive.

Usage notes

• Stricter and strictest are the grammatically correct forms for the comparative and superlative though outside the UK more strict and most strict are more often used.

Derived terms

• non-strict
• rule of strict construction
• strict construction
• strict constructionism
• strict constructionist
• stricten
• strict implication
• strict inequality
• strict liability
• strictly
• strictness
• strict ordering
• strict scrutiny
• strict-sense stationary
• strict vegetarian

Related terms

• stricture
• stringent
• strain

Translations

strained; drawn close; tight

• Bulgarian: стегнат (bg) (stegnat)
• Dutch: strak (nl)
• Finnish: tiukka (fi)
• Hungarian: szoros (hu)
• Italian: stretto (it)
• Portuguese: apertado (pt)
• Russian: напряжённый (ru) (napryazhonnii)

tense; not relaxed

• Bulgarian: стегнат (bg) (stegnat)
• Finnish: jäykkä (fi)
• Hungarian: feszes (hu), merev (hu)
• Portuguese: tenso (pt), teso (pt)

exact; accurate; precise

• Bulgarian: точен (bg) (točen), акуратен (bg) (akuraten)
• Finnish: tarkka (fi)
• Hungarian: feszült (hu)
• Irish: beacht
• Italian: particolare (it), esatto (it)
• Maori: uhupoho
• Portuguese: estrito (pt)
• Russian: точный (ru) (tochnii)

governed or governing by exact rules

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: صَارِم (ṣārim)
• Armenian: խիստ (hy) (xist)
• Assamese: কাঢ়া (karha)
• Bulgarian: стриктен (bg) (strikten)
• Catalan: estricte (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 嚴格 / 严格 (zh) (yángé)

• Czech: přísný (cs)
• Dutch: streng (nl), strikt (nl)
• Esperanto: rigora
• Finnish: tiukka (fi), ankara (fi)
• French: strict (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: streng (de)
• Hungarian: szigorú (hu)
• Italian: stretto (it)
• Japanese: 厳しい (ja) (きびしい, kibishii)
• Latin: sevērus
• Latvian: stingrs
• Maori: pākaha
• Portuguese: estrito (pt)
• Russian: стро́гий (ru) (strógij)
• Spanish: estricto (es)
• Swedish: sträng (sv)
• Sylheti: ꠇꠠꠣ (xoṛa)
• Tagalog: mahigpit, estrikto
• Ukrainian: строгий (strohyj)
• West Frisian: twang

rigidly interpreted

• Catalan: estricte (ca)
• Finnish: ahdas (fi), tarkka (fi)
• Hungarian: szoros (hu)
• Latvian: stingrs
• Maori: taikaha
• Portuguese: estrito (pt)

botany: upright, or straight and narrow

• Finnish: jäykkä (fi)

severe in discipline

• Arabic: صَارِم (ṣārim)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Basque: gogor
• Belarusian: стро́гі (stróhi), суро́вы (suróvy)
• Bulgarian: строг (bg) (strog), взискателен (bg) (vziskatelen)
• Catalan: estricte (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 嚴格 / 严格 (zh) (yángé)

• Czech: přísný (cs)
• Danish: streng
• Dutch: streng (nl)
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: ankara (fi)
• French: strict (fr)
• Georgian: მკაცრი (mḳacri)
• German: streng (de)
• Hindi: सख़्त (saxt)
• Hungarian: szigorú (hu)
• Italian: austero (it) severo (it)
• Japanese: 厳しい (ja) (きびしい, kibishii)
• Khmer: កឹង (kəng), គគ្រីតគគ្រូស (kɔkriit-kɔkruuh), ប្រិត (km) (prət)
• Korean: 엄격하다 (ko) (eomgyeokhada)
• Maori: pākaha
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: streng (no)
• Polish: surowy (pl), srogi (pl)
• Portuguese: austero (pt), severo (pt)
• Romanian: strict (ro), sever (ro)
• Russian: стро́гий (ru) (strógij), суро́вый (ru) (suróvyj)
• Slovak: prísny, strohý
• Spanish: estricto (es)
• Swedish: sträng (sv)
• Tagalog: mahigpit, estrikto
• Thai: เคร่ง (th) (krêng), เข้มงวด (th) (kêm-ngûuat)
• Ukrainian: стро́гий (stróhyj), суво́рий (suvóryj)
• Urdu: سخت (saxt)
• Vietnamese: nghiêm khắc (vi)
• Walloon: deur (wa), straegne (wa), strik (wa)

irreflexive — see irreflexive

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} streng (nl)
• Estonian: ^{(please verify)} range (et)
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 엄격한 (eomgyeokhan)

Further reading

• “strict”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “strict”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin strictus, perfect participle of stringere (“to draw tight, bind, contract”). Doublet of étroit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stʁikt/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

strict (feminine stricte, masculine plural stricts, feminine plural strictes)

1. strict

Derived terms

• strict minimum
• strictement

Further reading

• “strict”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French strict, from Latin strictus. Doublet of strâmt, which was inherited.

Adjective

strict m or n (feminine singular strictă, masculine plural stricți, feminine and neuter plural stricte)

1. strict

Declension

Declension of strict

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	strict		strictă		stricți	stricte
	definite	strictul		stricta		stricții	strictele
genitive- dative	indefinite	strict		stricte		stricți	stricte
	definite	strictului		strictei		stricților	strictelor