ironclad

[ahy-ern-klad, ahy-ern-klad]

adjective

1. covered or cased with iron plates, as a ship for naval warfare; armor-plated.

2. very rigid or exacting; inflexible; unbreakable.

   an ironclad contract.

noun

1. a wooden warship of the middle or late 19th century having iron or steel armor plating.

ironclad

adjective

1. covered or protected with iron

   an ironclad warship

2. inflexible; rigid

   an ironclad rule

3. not able to be assailed or contradicted

   an ironclad argument

noun

1. a large wooden 19th-century warship with armoured plating

Word History and Origins

Origin of ironclad¹

First recorded in 1850–55; iron + clad ¹

Example Sentences

The American legal system, he says, is largely based on precedent, not ironclad statutes, leaving some wiggle room for questionable business practices.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Catherine Crump, a clinical professor at UC Berkeley School of Law, said messaging and social media platforms have a virtual “ironclad immunity” from the content made by its users under Sec.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A series of federal actions aimed at pressuring states to allow parents to opt out of school vaccine mandates for religious or personal reasons threatens to undermine California’s ironclad ban on such exemptions.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Secondly, Keir Starmer and his European colleagues want to flesh out details of what they hope will be "ironclad" security guarantees - measures to protect and defend Ukraine in the event a peace deal is struck.

Read more on BBC

The franchise already had ZAZ’s ironclad primary joke to prop it up and make it look shiny against the dull, flagrant copaganda media.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• abiding 
• definite 
• inflexible 
• unwavering