27. do justice to, avenge, vindicate, take vengeance for; repay, requite, retaliate, get back at, revenge, righteous, adj. 1. blameless, pure at heart, incorrupt, good, guiltless; virtuous, holy, saintly, unerring, taintless; upright, noble, sterling, faultless; goodly, moral, scrupulous, clean-living; saintly, innocent, angelic, sinless, stainless, unspotted, unsoiled, unsullied; pious, godly, God-fearing, reverent; solemn, devout, religious, believing, heavenly-minded, spiritual; self-righteous, pietistic, smug, sanctimonious, Inf. goody-goody.
2. justifiable, equitable, fair, right; rightful, legitimate, reasonable, proper; defensible, supportable, well-founded, well-grounded, suitable.
3. just, honest, trustworthy, reputable, irreproachable, above suspicion; worthy, honorable, exemplary, meritorious, laudable, deserving, commendable, praiseworthy; consecrated, sacred, sanctified. righteousness, n. 1. blamelessness, goodness, virtuousness, holiness, saintliness, nobleness, honor, reputability, faithfulness; purity, innocence, virtue, honesty, integrity, probity, rectitude, morality, uprightness, incorruptibility, decency; scrupulousness, impeccability, stainlessness; reverence, veneration, devotion, consecration, dedication; piety, sanctity, godliness, devoutness, religiousness; religiosity, sanctimony, sanctimoniousness.
2. justice, fairness, equity, rightfulness, equitability, justness, legitimateness, legitimacy, reasonableness. rightful, adj. 1. legitimate, legal, licit, lawful; within the law, by law, de jure, legally correct; decreed, ordained, prescribed, mandated; proper, right, correct.
2. valid, genuine, unspurious, real, Inf. for real, Inf. honest-to-goodness or honest-to-gosh; true, authentic, authenticated, Inf true-blue, sincere, unfaked.
3. fair, just, equitable; ethical, proper, moral; good, true, scrupulous; honest, straight, Inf. square, Inf. fair and square. See also righteous (defs. 1,2).
4. deserved, merited, earned; proper, due, well-deserved, (of punishment) condign, fitting, appropriate, apt, suitable, meet. rigid, adj. 1. stiff, hard, inflexible, unflexible, non-flexible, unbendable, unbending, unyielding; inelastic, unplastic, nonpliant, unmalleable, nonmalleable; tight, tense, taut, Inf. stiff as a poker, Inf. stiff as a ramrod.
2. fixed, set, firm, immovable, unalterable, unchangeable, unvarying, hard and fast, ironclad; unde-viating, unswerving, resolute, steadfast, resolved, determined, tenacious, dogged, persevering, unrelenting, relentless, implacable, inexorable, never-say-die, diehard; hard-core, inveterate, absolute, unqualified, unmitigated.
3. strict, severe, stern, austere, spartan, harsh, Inf. hard as nails, tough; uncompromising, inflexible, Inf. set in one's ways, narrow-minded, close-minded; ultraconservative, strait-laced, SI. straight, on the straight and narrow; unadaptable, unaccommodating, uncon-formable, nonconforming, noncompliant, uncompliant, noncooperative, uncooperative; stubborn, obstinate, pig-headed, mulish, obdurate, headstrong, willful.
4. demanding, exacting, rigorous, stringent, close, tight; scientific, mathematical, nice, accurate, exact, precise, literal, to the letter; well-defined, definite, clear-cut; cut and dried, structured, formal. rigmarole, n. 1. nonsense, falderal, gibberish, babble, babbling, babblement, Fr. bavardage twaddle, twaddling, Both Brit, twattle, twattling; blather, blathering, drivel, driveling, drool, drooling; jargon, SI. jive, Greek, Chiefly Southern U.S. Choctaw; hocus-pocus, mumbo jumbo, abracadabra, fiddle-de-dee; moonshine, gobbledegook, foolish humbug, foam, froth, bunkum or buncombe, SI. bunk, SI. blah; flummery, Inf. hokum, SI. applesauce, SI. eyewash; rubbish, SI. tripe, refuse, Dial, culch, chaff, trash, Inf. truck, trumpery; tommyrot, Inf. rot, SI. garbage, SI. crap, SI. crock, SI. bull; balderdash, hogwash, swill,