Hard
Rigorous
Rigorous adjective - Given to exacting standards of discipline and self-restraint.
Usage example: a rigorous football coach who pushes his players to their physical and mental limits
Hard is a synonym for rigorous in severe topic. You can use "Hard" instead an adjective "Rigorous", if it concerns topics such as strict, rigid, heavy. popular alternative
Mutual synonyms
Both words in one sentence
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Hard Work Hardly Works: Subverted, Zeno achieved his power through rigorous training and is one of the most powerful demons.
Source: Manga / Zatch Bell! -
Hard Work Hardly Works: It seems that becoming a gunslinger is more a state of mind than the result of rigorous training.
Source: Franchise / The Dark Tower -
Whether they figured it out for themselves the hard way or needed to go through rigorous training to understand are just means to an end.
Source: Good Old Fisticuffs
Cite this Source
Rigorous and Hard. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 15, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/hard/rigorous
Hard & Rigorous. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/hard/rigorous>.
Rigorous or Hard. 2016. Accessed August 15, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/hard/rigorous.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "hard" and "rigorous" have occurred on timeline