hidebound
unwilling or unable to change (person, organization)
TRANSLATION
hidebound = engstirnig, unflexibel --- GOOGLE INDEX hidebound: approximately 500,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
For the last nine months, Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston has been discovering just how HIDEBOUND the traditional world of Westminster can be.
(BBC News)
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France's HIDEBOUND labor rules make it very difficult to fire workers, even in times of economic difficulty, and that has long made employers reluctant to hire.
(BusinessWeek Magazine)
(BBC News)
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France's HIDEBOUND labor rules make it very difficult to fire workers, even in times of economic difficulty, and that has long made employers reluctant to hire.
(BusinessWeek Magazine)
Did you
know?
hidebound
adjective
- having fixed opinions and ways of doing things and not willing to change or be influenced, especially by new or modern ideas
(Cambridge Dictionaries)
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Hidebound is a 16th century word that originally denoted malnourished cattle. It derives from the combination of "hide," as in the skin, and the adjective "bound," as in the sense of being restricted. The idea is that underfed cattle look so thin as to be bound (restricted) by their hides (skin). This earliest sense was eventually extended figuratively to mean a narrow or restricted point of view.
The adjective bound is used in this context in several other words:
- deskbound = describes someone who has to work in an office or at a desk (I gained 5 kilos since being deskbound)
- snowbound = describes vehicles or people unable to travel because of heavy snow, or (of roads) not able to be travelled on or reached because of heavy snow (I’m working from home today. I’m snowbound.)
- hardbound = (book) having a hard back or cover (I prefer the feel of a hardbound book)
- earthbound = unable to leave the surface of the Earth (space shuttle, astronaut) or not exciting, without imagination (That presentation was an earthbound performance)
- spellbound = having your attention completely held by something, so that you cannot think about anything else (The movie kept me spellbound for two hours)
- muscle-bound = describes someone who has very large muscles that make it difficult to move normally (He’s so muscle-bound, he has to have custom suits made)
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SYNONYMS
biased, close-minded, conservative, dogmatic, inflexible, intolerant, old-fashioned
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Don't expect to change the opinions of hidebound staff members."
adjective
- having fixed opinions and ways of doing things and not willing to change or be influenced, especially by new or modern ideas
(Cambridge Dictionaries)
---
Hidebound is a 16th century word that originally denoted malnourished cattle. It derives from the combination of "hide," as in the skin, and the adjective "bound," as in the sense of being restricted. The idea is that underfed cattle look so thin as to be bound (restricted) by their hides (skin). This earliest sense was eventually extended figuratively to mean a narrow or restricted point of view.
The adjective bound is used in this context in several other words:
- deskbound = describes someone who has to work in an office or at a desk (I gained 5 kilos since being deskbound)
- snowbound = describes vehicles or people unable to travel because of heavy snow, or (of roads) not able to be travelled on or reached because of heavy snow (I’m working from home today. I’m snowbound.)
- hardbound = (book) having a hard back or cover (I prefer the feel of a hardbound book)
- earthbound = unable to leave the surface of the Earth (space shuttle, astronaut) or not exciting, without imagination (That presentation was an earthbound performance)
- spellbound = having your attention completely held by something, so that you cannot think about anything else (The movie kept me spellbound for two hours)
- muscle-bound = describes someone who has very large muscles that make it difficult to move normally (He’s so muscle-bound, he has to have custom suits made)
---
SYNONYMS
biased, close-minded, conservative, dogmatic, inflexible, intolerant, old-fashioned
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Don't expect to change the opinions of hidebound staff members."
