adjective / noun

incorrigible

in-KOR-ih-juh-bul/ɪnˈkɔːrɪdʒəbl/

Impossible or very difficult to reform or correct.

Even after repeated warnings, he remains an incorrigible practical joker.

A text-free three-panel sequence shows the same young office worker repeatedly throwing paper airplanes despite direct intervention: his supervisor confiscates one, removes a growing handful while firmly signaling stop, and finally watches in exhausted disbelief as the worker launches yet another.

Etymology

inLatinnot

+corLatinthoroughly

+rigLatinto guide, keep straight

+ibleLatincapable of being

The pieces evoke someone who cannot be set straight: the verb for guiding or keeping straight became “correct.” Applied to character or conduct, “not correctable” means persistently bad or troublesome despite efforts to reform it.

In context

Libranima83:16

so incorrigible and ill- conditioned that neither good company nor good teaching could make any impression on him

Don Quixote - Cervantes (Illustrated Audiobook) Part 4 of 4

More examples

She's an incorrigible liar who invents another excuse whenever she's caught.
My incorrigible optimism keeps me looking for a solution.
The counselor refuses to dismiss any child as an incorrigible.

Forms

incorrigible · incorrigibles

incorrigibly adverb — In a way that resists correction.

incorrigibility noun — The quality of resisting reform or correction.

Similar words

irredeemable: Suggests someone is beyond saving, not just correcting.
unmanageable: Means difficult to control, not necessarily impossible to reform.