Hidebound describes someone or something as being narrow-minded, traditional, and resistant to change. Originally, it referred to animals with tight skin.
Hidebound (adjective) describes someone or something as inflexible, ultraconservative, or rigidly resistant to change. It originally referred to cattle with skin that adhered too closely to the skeleton.
| Word | hidebound |
|---|---|
| Date | December 19, 2015 |
| Type | adjective |
| Syllables | HYDE-bound |
| Etymology | Hidebound has its origins in agriculture. The word, which appeared in English as hyde bounde in the 16th century, originally described cattle that, due to illness or poor feeding, had skin that clung to the skeleton and could not be pinched, loosened, or worked with the fingers. Hidebound has also been applied to humans—both literally, to describe people with tight skin, and figuratively. In its earliest figurative usage, hidebound meant "stingy" or "miserly." That sense has since fallen out of use, but a second figurative usage, describing people who are rigid or unyielding in their actions or beliefs, lives on in our language today. |
| Examples | The store failed when its hidebound owners refused to alter their business model to adjust for the changing economy. "Both sides acknowledge a cultural divide between hidebound Beacon Hill, dominated by lawyers, lobbyists, and professional politicians, and a tech sector increasingly driven by apolitical twentysomethings." — Michael Levenson, The Boston Globe, 30 Oct. 2015 |
| Definition | 1 : (of a domestic animal) having a dry skin lacking in pliancy and adhering closely to the underlying flesh 2 : having an inflexible or ultraconservative character |
Tags: wordoftheday::adjective
Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.
Next card: Perpetuity period land forever set december noun per-puh-too-uh-tee
Previous card: Knot gordian alexander cut king phrygia great start
Up to card list: Word of the Day