Literary notes about strict (AI summary)
The word "strict" functions as a marker of rigorous precision and unwavering enforcement throughout literature. It is used both to describe literal rules or commands—such as a rule that forbids turning until signaled [1] or orders that must be followed without deviation [2][3]—and to embody moral and logical exactness, as when principles or definitions are qualified as being true only in the strict sense [4][5]. In narrative settings, "strict" establishes an atmosphere of discipline or severity, whether applied to the meticulous regulation of behavior or to the unwavering adherence to social mores [6][7]. Thus, across a range of contexts from playful caution to philosophical rigor, the term underscores a commitment to exact boundaries and inflexible standards.
- There was a strict rule against turning round until one gave the signal, when all turned at once.
— from Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie - My servant took a letter to her the next day, with strict instructions to wait for an answer.
— from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins - When Van Helsing had seen her, he went out for a walk, leaving me in charge, with strict injunctions that I was not to leave her for a moment.
— from Dracula by Bram Stoker - It is not a competitive race in the strict sense of the word.
— from Argonauts of the Western Pacific by Bronislaw Malinowski - In the strict sense, it is not whiteness that is in our mind, but the act of thinking of whiteness.
— from The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell - Many anecdotes are told of his strict justice and impartiality.
— from The Moors in Spain by Stanley Lane-Poole - The musical element of a language, the vowels, are well developed in Finnish, and their due sequence is subject to strict rules of euphony.
— from Kalevala : the Epic Poem of Finland — Complete
