Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Trimmed or fitted with brass: Describes an object that has decorative or functional parts made of brass.
   • Inflexibly entrenched and unchangeable: Describes an attitude, rule, tradition, or person that is rigidly fixed and resistant to any change.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (Trimmed with brass):
  • The antique sea captain's desk was a brassbound chest.
  • He knocked on the old ship's brassbound door.
• Adjective (Inflexible):
  • The organization was known for its brassbound adherence to outdated rules.
  • She was a brassbound traditionalist who opposed any modern reforms.

Advanced Usage

• "Brassbound" is often used in a figurative sense to criticize stubbornness or an unwillingness to adapt.
  • His brassbound ideology made compromise impossible.
• It can describe loyalty that is seen as unthinking or rigid.
  • The senator was a brassbound party loyalist who always voted along party lines.

Variants and Related Words

• Brass (noun): A yellow metal alloy of copper and zinc.
• Ironclad (adjective): Similar in meaning to the "inflexible" sense; unable to be changed or disputed.
  • An ironclad guarantee.
• Entrenched (adjective): Firmly established and difficult to change.
  • Entrenched beliefs.

Synonyms

• Inflexible: Unwilling to change or compromise.
• Unyielding: Not giving way to pressure; stubborn.
• Adamant: Refusing to be persuaded or to change one's mind.
• Obdurate: Stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion or course of action.

Idioms and Related Phrases

• Set in one's ways: Having fixed habits and opinions and being unlikely to change them. (This is a common phrase with a similar meaning to the figurative use of "brassbound").
  • After fifty years in the job, he was too set in his ways to accept the new software.

Adjective

1. having trim or fittings of brass
   • a brassbound campaign chest
   • the heavy brassbound door
2. inflexibly entrenched and unchangeable
   • brassbound traditions
   • brassbound party loyalists
   • an ironclad rule