Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Impervious to correction by punishment: Describes a person or behavior that is so firmly established or habitual that it cannot be corrected, reformed, or changed, especially through punishment or discipline.
   • Hopelessly bad or habitual: Used to characterize faults, habits, or tendencies that are so ingrained they are considered beyond remedy or improvement.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The teacher considered the student's tardiness to be incorrigible. (The teacher believed the student's habit of being late could not be corrected.)
  • He has an incorrigible habit of interrupting people. (He has a deeply ingrained and unchangeable habit of interrupting.)
  • Despite numerous warnings, her incorrigible optimism remained unchanged. (Her persistent optimism could not be diminished, even by negative events.)

Advanced Usage

• "incorrigible liar/rogue/optimist": A common collocation used to label a person whose specific negative (or sometimes positive) trait is seen as unchangeable.

  • The politician was branded an incorrigible liar by the press. (The press described the politician as someone who lies habitually and cannot be reformed.)

• Used humorously or affectionately: Sometimes used in a light-hearted way to describe a harmless but persistent quirk.

  • My grandfather is an incorrigible storyteller; he can turn any event into an epic tale. (My grandfather tells long stories by habit, but it's seen as a charming, unchangeable trait.)

Variants and Related Words

• Incorrigibility (noun): The quality or state of being incorrigible.

  • The court was concerned about the juvenile's apparent incorrigibility. (The court was worried about the young person's resistance to correction.)

• Incorrigibly (adverb): In a manner that is incorrigible.

  • He is incorrigibly messy. (He is messy in a way that seems impossible to change.)

Synonyms

• Inveterate: Firmly established by long persistence (e.g., an inveterate smoker).
• Hopeless: Having no hope of change or improvement.
• Incurable: Not able to be cured or altered.
• Hardened: Made tough or resistant to change, especially in character.

Antonyms

• Corrigible: Capable of being corrected, reformed, or improved.
• Reformable: Able to be changed for the better.
• Tractable: Easily managed, controlled, or taught.

Adjective

1. impervious to correction by punishment