incorrigible

[in-kawr-i-juh-buh l, -kor-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR incorrigible ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

not corrigible; bad beyond correction or reform: incorrigible behavior; an incorrigible liar.

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

firmly fixed; not easily changed: an incorrigible habit.

not easily swayed or influenced: an incorrigible optimist.

noun

a person who is incorrigible.

Origin of incorrigible

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

Related formsin·cor·ri·gi·bil·i·ty, in·cor·ri·gi·ble·ness, nounin·cor·ri·gi·bly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for incorrigibility

intolerance, zeal, bigotry, hatred, extremism, zealotry, madness, abandonment, dogma, unruliness, bias, infatuation, transport, stubbornness, obstinacy, passion, injustice, tenacity, partisanship, enthusiasm

Examples from the Web for incorrigibility

Contemporary Examples of incorrigibility

It was filthy beyond belief,” said Middleton, who was sent to the school for the crime of “incorrigibility.
The Bone Collectors Get to Work at Florida’s Dozier School
Christine Pelisek
September 6, 2013
Emmy- and Tony Award-winning actor Charles Dutton understands the incorrigibility of some violent inmates.
Ex-Prisoners Say Life Term Is Cruel for Teens, As Case Hits High Court
Sandra McElwaine
March 19, 2012

Historical Examples of incorrigibility

The pictured squares were the ironic badge of Hugh's incorrigibility.
Satan Sanderson
Hallie Erminie Rives
Bad eyesight has been urged for years as a cause of backwardness and incorrigibility in school children.
How To Write Special Feature Articles
Willard Grosvenor Bleyer
Eugene, the youngest boy, nine years old, had been in court two months before on the charge of incorrigibility.
Charities and the Commons: The Pittsburgh Survey, Part I: The People
Various
I remember an exasperated and frightened mother who took a boy of fourteen into court upon the charge of incorrigibility.
The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets
Jane Addams
It seemed to him now that at his last visit he had seen in her the symptoms of incorrigibility which were now evident.
The Awakening
Leo Nikoleyevich Tolstoy

British Dictionary definitions for incorrigibility

incorrigible

adjective

beyond correction, reform, or alteration

firmly rooted; ineradicable

philosophy (of a belief) having the property that whoever honestly believes it cannot be mistakenCompare defeasible

noun

a person or animal that is incorrigible

Derived Formsincorrigibility or incorrigibleness, nounincorrigibly, 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

Word Origin and History for incorrigibility

late 15c., from incorrigible + -ity.

incorrigible

adj.

mid-14c., from Old French incorrigible (mid-14c.), or directly from Latin incorrigibilis "not to be corrected," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + corrigibilis, from corrigere "to correct" (see correct). Related: Incorrigibly. As a noun, from 1746.