incorrigible

[ in-kawr-i-juh-buhl, -kor- ]
See synonyms for incorrigible on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. not corrigible; bad beyond correction or reform: incorrigible behavior; an incorrigible liar.

  2. impervious to constraints or punishment; willful; unruly; uncontrollable: an incorrigible child; incorrigible hair.

  1. firmly fixed; not easily changed: an incorrigible habit.

  2. not easily swayed or influenced: an incorrigible optimist.

noun
  1. a person who is incorrigible.

Origin of incorrigible

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English word from Latin word incorrigibilis.See in-3, corrigible

Other words from incorrigible

  • in·cor·ri·gi·bil·i·ty, in·cor·ri·gi·ble·ness, noun
  • in·cor·ri·gi·bly, adverb

Words Nearby incorrigible

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use incorrigible in a sentence

  • We are trying to digest the riffraff of the world, and can't do it, in spite of such incorrigible optimists as Judge Leslie.

    Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
  • On the subject of Malassis, I will tell you that I marvel at his courage, at his activity, and his incorrigible gaiety.

    Charles Baudelaire, His Life | Thophile Gautier
  • He revolted against it, as a thing more provoking, more incorrigible than mere womanhood.

    The Creators | May Sinclair
  • He was master, he said, of the lives and property of these incorrigible rebels, and he would do with them as he pleased.

    Belgium | George W. T. (George William Thomson) Omond
  • Even on his father the incorrigible lad seems on more than one occasion to have tried his little game.

    East Anglia | J. Ewing Ritchie

British Dictionary definitions for incorrigible

incorrigible

/ (ɪnˈkɒrɪdʒəbəl) /


adjective
  1. beyond correction, reform, or alteration

  2. firmly rooted; ineradicable

  1. philosophy (of a belief) having the property that whoever honestly believes it cannot be mistaken: Compare defeasible

noun
  1. a person or animal that is incorrigible

Derived forms of incorrigible

  • incorrigibility or incorrigibleness, noun
  • incorrigibly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012