Demanding rigid conformity to rules or high standards; allowing no deviation or relaxation from established requirements.
From Latin strictus meaning 'drawn tight, compressed', past participle of stringere 'to draw tight'. The sense evolved from physical tightness to metaphorical rigidity in rules and standards during the 16th century.
Research shows that moderate strictness in parenting and education produces better outcomes than either extreme permissiveness or harsh authoritarianism - the 'Goldilocks zone' of structure provides security while allowing growth. The word's Latin root shares ancestry with 'string' and 'stringent'.
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