as in hopeless
not capable of being cured or reformed
an incorrigible criminal who should spend the rest of his life behind bars
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in delinquent
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of incorrigible
Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2025
Who was this alien observer, whose gaze made me into a (slightly) better person, whose gaze (slightly) reduced my incorrigible self-centeredness?
—Michael W. Clune, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 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
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
Who was this alien observer, whose gaze made me into a (slightly) better person, whose gaze (slightly) reduced my incorrigible self-centeredness?
—Michael W. Clune, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 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
-
In a more simplistic story, Derya and Aziz’s efforts to find a good private school for their daughter would come off as a hopeless bourgeois indulgence.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
26 Feb. 2026
-
The result has been a bloodbath in the state of Sinaloa, with thousands killed, thousands more missing and the violence reaching such heights that the Mexican government looks hopeless, if not hapless.—
Daniel DePetris,
Chicago Tribune,
24 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
Shephard says the most important thing to do is resolve any delinquent or past due payments.—
Mekialaya White,
CBS News,
20 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Arcellx is developing a new class of immunotherapies for patients with cancer and other incurable diseases.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
23 Feb. 2026
-
Arcellx focuses on immunotherapies for patients with cancer and others with incurable diseases.—
Scott Schnipper,
CNBC,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
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 2 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
