unbending

American  

[uhn-ben-ding] / ʌnˈbɛn dɪŋ /

adjective

1. not bending or curving; inflexible; rigid.

2. refusing to yield or compromise; resolute.

3. austere or formal; aloof.

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unbending British  

/ ʌnˈbɛndɪŋ /

adjective

1. rigid or inflexible

2. characterized by sternness or severity

   an unbending rule

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Other Word Forms

• unbendingly
  adverb
• unbendingness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of unbending

First recorded in 1545–55; un- ¹ + bend ¹ ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

Explanation

Something that's unbending is strict or inflexible, like an unbending rule in your grandparents' house that everyone has to take their shoes off, no matter what. When people are described as being unbending, they're typically inflexible about rules or behavior. Your unbending math teacher might refuse to give homework extensions and lock the door so that tardy students can't slip into class late. This adjective inspired the figurative sense of the verb unbend, to relax or become less reserved. If you tend to be unbending, your friends may encourage you to unbend a little on the weekends.

Example Sentences

Unbending and pugnacious in his artistic actions, Mr. Pavlensky is surprisingly gentle in person, though his sunken cheeks and shaved head, scarred from the fight on New Year’s Eve, give him an intimidating air.

From New York Times • Feb. 28, 2020

Unbending loyalty knit them all to the man whose name was plastered on the building.

From Los Angeles Times • May 2, 2018

Unbending more than is his wont, Presidential Assistant Sherman Adams, in modified rustic garb, steered Mrs. Rocco Siciliano, wife of a White House aide, through the galumphing podner-swinging of a square dance.

From Time Magazine Archive

Unbending a bit, Thuy and his aides even took in the horse races at the fashionable Auteuil track in the Bois de Boulogne.

From Time Magazine Archive

Unbending, unpitiful, does the universe seem to be when the idea of law and Nemesis is so strongly presented, and with no relief from it in the theory of man's free will.

From George Eliot; a Critical Study of Her Life, Writings & Philosophy by Cooke, George Willis