hard-and-fast

[ hahrd-n-fast, -fahst ]

/ ˈhɑrd nˈfæst, -ˈfɑst /

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See synonyms for hard-and-fast on Thesaurus.com

adjective

strongly binding; not to be set aside or violated: hard-and-fast rules.

OTHER WORDS FOR hard-and-fast

fixed, precise, inflexible, inviolable, rigorous, unambiguous.

See synonyms for hard-and-fast on Thesaurus.com

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Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of hard-and-fast

First recorded in 1865–70

OTHER WORDS FROM hard-and-fast

hard-and-fastness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hard-and-fast in a sentence

At the least, there must be hard-and-fast laws about insider trading, right?
Are Ethics for Suckers?|Joanne Lipman|April 11, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Following his hard-and-fast rule, Mr. Norcross didn't deny himself to anybody.
The Wreckers|Francis Lynde
He saw in painting a sort of abstract geometry for which there existed hard-and-fast forms.
The History of Modern Painting, Volume 1 (of 4)|Richard Muther
Your hard-and-fast scientific men—your Spencers and Huxleys—they don't understand that.
Tono Bungay|H. G. Wells

A physician, for example, deliberately avoids such hard-and-fast alternatives as have been postulated in our instance.
Essays in Experimental Logic|John Dewey
But he never takes it as a hard-and-fast principle which must at all costs be imposed upon the facts.
Form and Function|E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell

British Dictionary definitions for hard-and-fast

hard and fast

adjective

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with hard-and-fast