as in severity
the quality or state of being demanding or unyielding (as in discipline or criticism)
the principal's inflexibility in matters of discipline is the stuff of school legend
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 inflexibility
But there is also such a thing as being too good, where your own purity takes precedence over all else, leading to inflexibility and inaction.
—
Shadi Hamid, Time, 3 Nov. 2025
An impressive defensive coach, he has occasionally been criticized for a certain regular season inflexibility in his rotations and overplaying his best contributors.
—Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Sep. 2025
However, the reality is that the inherent inflexibility of immutability is essential to ensuring business resiliency and provides the invaluable peace of mind that comes with knowing data will always be there, ready to be recovered, no matter what.
—David Bennett, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
Structural inflexibility is forcing unnecessary trade-offs.
—Katica Roy, Fortune, 15 Aug. 2025
Shadi Hamid, Time, 3 Nov. 2025
An impressive defensive coach, he has occasionally been criticized for a certain regular season inflexibility in his rotations and overplaying his best contributors.
—Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Sep. 2025
However, the reality is that the inherent inflexibility of immutability is essential to ensuring business resiliency and provides the invaluable peace of mind that comes with knowing data will always be there, ready to be recovered, no matter what.
—David Bennett, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
Structural inflexibility is forcing unnecessary trade-offs.
—Katica Roy, Fortune, 15 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inflexibility
Noun
-
Yet, the severity of gendered crime during Partition wasn’t caused by an arbitrary upsurge of madness.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
30 Oct. 2025
-
Allergic reactions vary in severity from mild symptoms such as hives and lip swelling to life-threatening complications, such as anaphylaxis, that may include fatal respiratory problems.—
Matthew Robinson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
That rigidity probably explains why Gospodinov chooses, against all evidence, to call the book a novel.—
James Wood,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
-
The rigidity that had robbed her of movement began to ease off.—
Jack Beresford,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Inflexibility.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inflexibility. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share