incorrigible

[in-kawr-i-juh-buhl, -kor-]

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.

3. firmly fixed; not easily changed.

   an incorrigible habit.

4. not easily swayed or influenced.

   an incorrigible optimist.

noun

1. a person who is incorrigible.

incorrigible

/ ɪnˈkɒrɪdʒəbəl /

adjective

1. beyond correction, reform, or alteration

2. firmly rooted; ineradicable

3. 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

Other Word Forms

• incorrigibility noun
• incorrigibleness noun
• incorrigibly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of incorrigible¹

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

Example Sentences

This family was so, well, incorrigibly miserable, one might easily conclude that they too were under a curse.

Read more on Literature

As an incorrigible collector of classical music recordings for 30 years, I confess I have never thought of the National Symphony Orchestra’s appearance on an album cover a reason to buy it.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Here, her incorrigible Eleanor barks at a grocery store clerk to fetch the kosher pickles and cackles with glee informing her grandson that his mother’s high school nickname was the “class mattress.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

As it happens, sending astronauts to the moon and Mars ranked at the bottom of the list of priorities — something that probably won’t affect Musk’s incorrigible enthusiasm for the red planet.

Read more on Salon

The Times, taking the opposite line, reported that Glenn and another student, Brendon Barr, were adjudged “incorrigible” and clocked in a stockade as a last resort.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• hardened