hard-and-fast
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Strictly enforced or adhered to without exception
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
được thực thi nghiêm ngặt và không có ngoại lệ
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: firm and unchanging
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The company has hard-and-fast rules about employee conduct
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “hard-and-fast” mean?
Strictly enforced or adhered to without exception Literally: firm and unchanging
Is “hard-and-fast” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.