Inflexible
/ɪnˈflɛk.sə.bəl/noun
Not able or willing to bend, change, or be persuaded.
Did you know?Its core comes from Latin *flectere* meaning “to bend,” the same root behind words like *reflect* and *deflect*—so *inflexible* literally names the absence of bending.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bʰleg-
“to bend, curve”
Latin
Latin
flectere
“to bend”
Latin
Latin
in- + flexibilis
“not bendable; not easily turned”
Late Latin / Old French
Latin / Old French
inflexible
“not yielding, not pliable”
15th Century
English
inflexible
“not capable of being bent or altered”
Modern English
English
inflexible
“unbending in body, mind, or policy”