inflexible

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French inflexible, from Latin īnflexibilis. See also in- +‎ flexible.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈflɛksəbl̩/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

inflexible (comparative more inflexible, superlative most inflexible)

1. Not flexible; not capable of bending or being bent.

   Synonyms: stiff, rigid, firm, unyielding

2. Not willing to change, e.g. one's opinion or habits.
3. Not able to be changed or adapted to circumstances.
   • 2020 November 18, Howard Johnston, “The missing 'Lincs' and the sole survivor”, in Rail, page 58:

     Being so inflexible, the railway was easy prey to road competition, and the arrival of unregulated lorry transport from farm fields to town centres quickly captured all locally generated business.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:obstinate
• unflexible

Antonyms

• flexible

Related terms

• inflexibility
• inflexibleness
• inflexibly

Translations

stiff, rigid

• Asturian: inflexible
• Bulgarian: неогъваем (neogǎvaem)
• Catalan: inflexible (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 呆板 (zh) (dāibǎn)

• French: inflexible (fr)
• Galician: inflexible (gl), inflexíbel (gl)
• German: inflexibel, unflexibel (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ἄκαμπτος (ákamptos)

• Hindi: कड़ा (hi) (kaṛā), कठोर (hi) (kaṭhor)
• Icelandic: ósveigjanlegur (is)
• Italian: inflessibile (it)
• Latin: rigens
• Māori: whakaioio, torotika
• Polish: sztywny (pl), nieelastyczny (pl)
• Portuguese: inflexível (pt)
• Romanian: neflexibil (ro) m or n, inflexibil (ro) m or n, rigid (ro) m or n
• Russian: неги́бкий (ru) (negíbkij), негну́щийся (ru) (negnúščijsja), несгиба́емый (ru) (nesgibájemyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: rag
• Spanish: inflexible (es)

obstinate, stubborn

• Asturian: inflexible
• Bulgarian: непреклонен (bg) (nepreklonen), непоколебим (bg) (nepokolebim)
• Catalan: inflexible (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 固執 / 固执 (zh) (gùzhí, gùzhi), 死板 (zh) (sǐbǎn)

• Galician: inflexible (gl), inflexíbel (gl)
• German: unbeugsam (de)
• Hindi: हठी (hi) (haṭhī)
• Icelandic: ósveigjanlegur (is)
• Polish: nieugięty (pl)
• Portuguese: inflexível (pt)
• Romanian: rigid (ro) m or n
• Russian: неги́бкий (ru) (negíbkij), непрекло́нный (ru) (nepreklónnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: rag
• Spanish: inflexible (es)

References

• “inflexible”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “inflexible”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Asturian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnflexibilis.

Adjective

inflexible (epicene, plural inflexibles)

1. inflexible

   Antonym: flexible

Further reading

• “inflexible”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1ª edición, Academia de la Llingua Asturiana, 2000, →ISBN

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnflexibilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [iɱ.fləkˈsib.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [iɱ.flekˈsi.ble]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

inflexible m or f (masculine and feminine plural inflexibles)

1. inflexible

   Antonym: flexible

Derived terms

• inflexiblement

Related terms

• inflexibilitat

Further reading

• “inflexible”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “inflexible”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “inflexible” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “inflexible” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

From in- +‎ flexible.

Adjective

inflexible (plural inflexibles)

1. inflexible

Derived terms

• inflexiblement

Related terms

• inflexibilité

Further reading

• “inflexible”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Galician

Alternative forms

• inflexível (reintegrationist)
• inflexíbel

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin īnflexibilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inflekˈsible/ [iɱ.flekˈs̺i.β̞lɪ]
• Rhymes: -ible
• Hyphenation: in‧fle‧xi‧ble

Adjective

inflexible m or f (plural inflexibles)

1. inflexible

   Antonym: flexible

Derived terms

• inflexiblemente

Related terms

• inflexibilidade

Further reading

• “inflexible”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnflexibilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /infleɡˈsible/ [ĩɱ.fleɣ̞ˈsi.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -ible
• Syllabification: in‧fle‧xi‧ble

Adjective

inflexible m or f (masculine and feminine plural inflexibles)

1. inflexible

   Antonym: flexible

Derived terms

• inflexiblemente

Related terms

• inflexibilidad

Further reading

• “inflexible”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025