Rigidest

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Exhibiting the greatest degree of stiffness or inflexibility in texture, form, or movement; characterized by extreme resistance to bending or alteration; manifesting as the most unyielding or strict adherence to rules or structures
2. Demonstrating the highest level of firmness or hardness that resists change or bending; showing intense stiffness in physical or metaphorical contexts; being the most uncompromising or strict in behavior or conditions
3. Possessing the utmost rigidity or firmness, resisting deformation or flexibility; indicating an extreme lack of pliability in material or conduct; reflecting the strongest enforcement or strictness in systems or attitudes

Etymology: "Rigidest" is the superlative of "rigid", so its story is really the story of the adjective it modifies. "Rigid" comes from Latin "rigidus", meaning "stiff", which was itself built on the verb "rigeō", "to be stiff". English took the word through Middle English "rigide", but the form we use today was shaped by a mix-up with an older English word. Middle English "rigged", "rygged" and "rugged" meant "upright like a spine" and, literally, "ridged", so the stiffness of a backbone and the ridges of a surface got folded into the Latin word's sense. The Latin root points to a sense of hardness and immobility that the English word keeps. Its superlative, "rigidest", simply takes that stiffness to the highest degree, so the word describes something as unbending as it can possibly be.

Synonyms: most rigid, stiffest, firmest, hardest, most inflexible

Antonyms: most flexible, softest, most pliable, least rigid, most lax