rigidity

From rigid +‎ -ity, from Latin rigiditas.

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈd͡ʒɪdɪti/

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rigidity (countable and uncountable, plural rigidities)

1. The quality or state of being rigid; lack of pliability; the quality of resisting change of physical shape.

   moral rigidity

   The metal’s rigidity made it hard to bend.

   She disliked the rigidity of the rules.

   • 1958 September, “Swindon's First Main-Line Diesel Locomotive”, in Railway Magazine, page 601:

     For rigidity, two bulkheads are provided which are welded to the sides and underframe and which separate the cabs from the engine room.

2. The amount of resistance with which a body opposes change of form.

   structural rigidity

3. Stiffness of appearance or manner; want of ease or elegance.

   speak with excessive rigidity

4. (economics) stickiness (of prices/wages etc.). Describing the tendency of prices and money wages to adjust to changes in the economy with a certain delay.

• rigidness

• flexibility
• ductility
• malleability
• softness

• “rigidity”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.