Unable or unwilling to bend, change, or adapt; rigid in attitude, rules, or behavior; not capable of being modified.
From Latin 'inflexibilis', composed of 'in-' (not) and 'flexibilis' (bendable), derived from 'flectere' (to bend). The word originally described physical objects that couldn't bend, then extended to describe people or rules that wouldn't change or adapt.
Inflexible people are like stiff tree branches - they can't bend with the wind and often break under pressure! The physical metaphor is perfect: flexible things survive storms by bending, while inflexible things resist until they snap. This is why adaptability is often seen as a survival skill.
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