Also called: Firm thumb · Rigid thumb

Where on the hand: Tested by pressing the thumb's top phalange backward; the stiff thumb barely yields.

What it looks like: The joint holds firm under pressure and the thumb stays in line.

Determination, caution, obstinacy, emotional restraint and reliance on intelligence. Cheiro: they cannot easily adapt themselves to others and are distant and more reserved with strangers — but they make more reliable friends.

Western reading: Cheiro's stiff-versus-supple thumb pairing is one of his most practical distinctions.

cannot easily adapt themselves to others. They are distant and more reserved with strangers.Cheiro, Palmistry for All (1916)

make more reliable friends, so their friendship, though difficult to obtain, is generally worth having.Cheiro, Palmistry for All (1916)