| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | severe; exact |
| Synonyms: | accurate, ascetic, austere, bitter, brutal, burdensome, correct, definite, dogmatic, exacting, hard, harsh, inclement, inflexible, intemperate, ironhanded, meticulous, nice, onerous, oppressive, precise, proper, punctilious, right, rigid, rugged, scrupulous, stern, stiff, strict, stringent, uncompromising, unpermissive |
| Notes: | rigorous means demanding strict attention to rules and procedures; vigorous means strong and active physically or mentally |
| Antonyms: | easy, easy-going, lax, lenient, loose, mild |
| Main Entry: | arduous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | difficult, hard to endure |
| Synonyms: | backbreaking, burdensome, exhausting, fatiguing, formidable, grueling, harsh, heavy, labored, laborious, murder, no picnic, onerous, painful, punishing, rigorous, rough, severe, strenuous, taxing, tiring, toilsome, tough, troublesome, trying, uphill |
| Antonyms: | easy, facile, motivating |
| Main Entry: | austere |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | severe in manner |
| Synonyms: | ascetic, astringent, cold, earnest, exacting, forbidding, formal, grave, grim, hard, harsh, inexorable, inflexible, obdurate, rigid, rigorous, serious, sober, solemn, somber, stern, stiff, strict, stringent, unfeeling, unrelenting |
| Antonyms: | bland, calm, gentle, meek, mild |
| Main Entry: | bitter |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | painful, distressing |
| Synonyms: | afflictive, annoying, bad, brutal, calamitous, cruel, dire, disagreeable, displeasing, distasteful, disturbing, galling, grievous, hard, harsh, heartbreaking, hurtful, inclement, intemperate, intense, merciless, offensive, poignant, provoking, rigorous, rugged, ruthless, savage, severe, sharp, stinging, unpalatable, unpleasant, vexatious, woeful |
| Antonyms: | good, helping, wonderful |
| Main Entry: | careful |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | cautious; painstaking |
| Synonyms: | accurate, alert, apprehensive, assiduous, attentive, chary, choosy, circumspect, concerned, conscientious, conservative, cool, deliberate, discreet, exacting, fastidious, finicky, fussy, going to great lengths, guarded, heedful, judicious, leery, meticulous, mindful, observant, particular, playing safe, precise, prim, protective, provident, prudent, punctilious, regardful, religious, rigorous, scrupulous, selfdisciplined, shy, sober, solicitous, solid, thorough, thoughtful, vigilant, wary |
| Antonyms: | careless, inattentive, incautious, thoughtless, uncareful, unconcerned, unscrupulous |
| Main Entry: | correct |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | accurate, exact |
| Synonyms: | according to Hoyle, actual, amen, appropriate, cooking with gas, dead on, equitable, factual, faithful, faultless, flawless, for sure, free of error, impeccable, just, legitimate, nice, okay, on target, on the ball, on the beam, on the button, on the money, on the nose, on track, perfect, precise, proper, regular, right, right as rain, right on, right stuff, righteous, rigorous, stone, strict, true, undistorted, unmistaken, veracious, veridical |
| Antonyms: | flawed, imprecise, inaccurate, incorrect, inexact, wrong |
| Main Entry: | exact |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | accurate, precise |
| Synonyms: | bull's-eye, careful, clear, clear-cut, correct, dead on, definite, distinct, downright, explicit, express, faithful, faultless, identical, literal, methodical, nailed down, nice, on target, on the button, on the money, on the numbers, orderly, particular, perfect, right, right on, rigorous, sharp, specific, true, unequivocal, unerring, veracious, verbal, verbatim |
| Antonyms: | approximate, imprecise, inaccurate, incorrect, indefinite, inexact |
| Main Entry: | exact |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | careful, painstaking |
| Synonyms: | conscientious, conscionable, demanding, exacting, finicky, fussy, heedful, meticulous, punctilious, punctual, rigorous, scrupulous, severe, strict |
| Antonyms: | approximate, careless, uncareful, unreliable |
| Main Entry: | exacting |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | demanding |
| Synonyms: | burdensome, by the book, careful, critical, difficult, exigent, finicky, fussy, grievous, hard, harsh, hypercritical, imperious, nit-picking, onerous, oppressive, painstaking, particular, persnickety, picky, precise, rigid, rigorous, severe, stern, strict, stringent, taxing, tough, trying, unsparing, weighty |
| Antonyms: | giving, lending |