as in hopeless
not capable of being cured or reformed
an incorrigible criminal who should spend the rest of his life behind bars
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in delinquent
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Recent Examples of incorrigible
The Editors, Curbed, 15 Dec. 2025
Mary Roy, too, married to flee violence—her father, a civil servant under the British, beat his wife and whipped his children—only to find that her husband was an incorrigible drunk.
—Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2025
Winnie Pierce, an incorrigible twenty-five-year-old party girl, carried on without regard to caution both on duty and off, while Nancy Miller, twenty-three, a minister’s daughter, lived a squeaky-clean existence on the ground but learned to tear it up in the sky.
—Literary Hub, 8 May 2025
But Hossam said that despite these efforts, a lot of the opportunistic joiners are incorrigible troublemakers.
—Mara R. Revkin, Foreign Affairs, 1 May 2016
See All Example Sentences for incorrigible
Adjective
But the Coop had one thing that failed cooperatives didn’t: Joe Holtz, a gregarious 22-year-old from Sheepshead Bay with a mind for numbers and an incorrigible idealism.
—The Editors, Curbed, 15 Dec. 2025
Mary Roy, too, married to flee violence—her father, a civil servant under the British, beat his wife and whipped his children—only to find that her husband was an incorrigible drunk.
—Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2025
Winnie Pierce, an incorrigible twenty-five-year-old party girl, carried on without regard to caution both on duty and off, while Nancy Miller, twenty-three, a minister’s daughter, lived a squeaky-clean existence on the ground but learned to tear it up in the sky.
—Literary Hub, 8 May 2025
But Hossam said that despite these efforts, a lot of the opportunistic joiners are incorrigible troublemakers.
—Mara R. Revkin, Foreign Affairs, 1 May 2016
See All Example Sentences for incorrigible
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incorrigible
Adjective
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There were definitely points on my journey where things seemed dark and sort of hopeless.—
Zulekha Nathoo,
USA Today,
30 Mar. 2026
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This one’s for the horny, hopeless goth inside all of us.—
Katie Walsh,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Roughly a million borrowers defaulted on their federal student loans late last year, with millions delinquent on their payments and sliding toward the same fate.—
Cory Turner,
NPR,
10 Feb. 2026
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Shephard says the most important thing to do is resolve any delinquent or past due payments.—
Mekialaya White,
CBS News,
20 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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These will be Dion’s inaugural performances since being diagnosed with stiff person syndrome—a rare, incurable neurological disorder that causes spasms and other physical difficulties—in 2022.—
Nina Corcoran,
Pitchfork,
30 Mar. 2026
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The body approved Castillo’s request based on assessments that evaluated her condition as serious and incurable, and that the 25-year-old had severe, chronic and debilitating suffering.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The fight almost bankrupts the town of Shelby, Montana, which borrowed heavily to stage it. 1930 — Helen Wills Moody wins her fourth straight singles title at Wimbledon with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Elizabeth Ryan.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
4 July 2025
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The expectation is set early in the series, when an alderman who tries to swindle George bankrupts himself in the process, then kills himself in shame.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
24 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Incorrigible.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incorrigible. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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