Rigorous means very thorough, careful, and strict, often with high standards that are hard to meet. A rigorous test or process leaves little room for mistakes or laziness.
From Middle English *rigorous*, from Old French *rigoreus*, from Latin *rigorosus* “stiff, harsh,” from *rigor* “stiffness, severity.” The original sense was literally about physical stiffness and hardness.
Rigorous once described how stiff something felt, and it still carries that hardness into ideas and rules. A “rigorous experiment” is one where the rules are so tight that sloppy thinking can’t wiggle through.
Academic and professional “rigor” has historically been defined within male‑dominated institutions, sometimes devaluing methods and topics associated with women (e.g., qualitative research, care work, domestic labor). This has influenced what is seen as serious or legitimate knowledge.
Apply “rigorous” consistently across fields and methods, not only to traditionally male‑dominated disciplines. Avoid using it to dismiss work on gender, care, or other marginalized topics as inherently less serious.
["thorough","methodical","strict","exacting"]
Women scholars have led rigorous work across disciplines, including in areas long dismissed as “soft” or feminine, reshaping standards of evidence and methodology.
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