rigour
/ˈɹɪɡə(ɹ)/noun
rigour is spelled R-I-G-O-U-R: 6 letters. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,187th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “rigor vs rigour” about 110 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, rigour means “Severity or strictness” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of rigour is rigours.
How many letters and syllables are in rigour?
| Letters | 6: R-I-G-O-U-R |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 43,187th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is rigour?
Rigour appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,187th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce rigour?
- UK /ˈɹɪɡə(ɹ)/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-rigour.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with rigour
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: rigger, rigor (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: rigor.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with rigour?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as rigour from its last stressed vowel (/ɪɡə/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of rigour
- rigours plural
- rigor
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does rigour mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Severity or strictness.
- 2
Harshness, as of climate.
- 3
A feeling of cold with shivering accompanied by a rise in body temperature.
- 4
Character of being unyielding or inflexible.
- 5
Shrewd questioning.
- 6
Higher level of difficulty.
Wiktionary also records rigour as a common misspelling of another word in some uses; the senses above are its own.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Rigour in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does rigour come from?
From Middle English rigour, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French rigor, from Latin rigor (“stiffness, rigidity, rigor, cold, harshness”), from rigere (“to be rigid”). Compare French rigueur.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).