hard-and-fast

[hahrd-n-fast, -fahst]

adjective

1. strongly binding; not to be set aside or violated.

   hard-and-fast rules.

   Synonyms: unambiguous, rigorous, inviolable, inflexible, precise, fixed

hard and fast

adjective

1. (hard-and-fast when prenominal) (esp of rules) invariable or strict

Other Word Forms

• hard-and-fastness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of hard-and-fast¹

First recorded in 1865–70

Idioms and Phrases

Defined, fixed, invariable, as in We have hard and fast rules for this procedure. This term originally was applied to a vessel that has come out of water, either by running aground or being put in dry dock, and is therefore unable to move. By the mid-1800s it was being used figuratively.