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
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Recent Examples of inflexibility
The top prospect’s irregular playing time is a product of his positional inflexibility mixed with the construction of the current roster.
—
Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 19 May 2026
The frustration is in the inflexibility.
—Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 20 Feb. 2026
The Red Sox could also try to move on from Masataka Yoshida, though his contract, injury history and positional inflexibility will hamper his trade value.
—Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 16 Jan. 2026
Roster inflexibility could further complicate matters.
—Chandler Rome, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2026
And many folks thought that that was a type of dogmatism and inflexibility that was not productive.
—Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 5 Jan. 2026
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
Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 19 May 2026
The frustration is in the inflexibility.
—Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 20 Feb. 2026
The Red Sox could also try to move on from Masataka Yoshida, though his contract, injury history and positional inflexibility will hamper his trade value.
—Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 16 Jan. 2026
Roster inflexibility could further complicate matters.
—Chandler Rome, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2026
And many folks thought that that was a type of dogmatism and inflexibility that was not productive.
—Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 5 Jan. 2026
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inflexibility
Noun
-
Allegedly, Buckingham Palace leaned on the press to downplay the severity of the king’s illness last year, which paints a picture of a monarch who’s much sicker than people want to believe.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
3 June 2026
-
The severity of the victim's injuries was not yet known.—
Richard Ramos,
CBS News,
3 June 2026
Noun
-
Toyota reverses that setup here to provide greater rigidity and better resistance to flex under cornering and braking loads.—
Utkarsh Sood
June 06,
New Atlas,
6 June 2026
-
Autoclave technology takes pre-impregnated carbon-fiber shapes and then cures them under high pressure and temperature to deliver maximum structural rigidity and weight savings.—
Jerry Perez,
The Drive,
4 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Inflexibility.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inflexibility. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026.
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