Incorrigible has been part of English since the 14th century. Back then, it was used to describe people who were morally depraved, but now it is most often applied to people who merely have bad habits. Is there a "corrigible?" Yes, indeed, we've used "corrigible" in the sense of "capable of being set right; reparable" (as in "a corrigible defect" and "a corrigible sinner") since the 15th century. Both words are from Latin corrigere, which means "to correct" and which is also the source of our word correct.
The incorrigible maleness of men is a standing rebuke to the Rousseau-inspired notions of human moral plasticity that are central to liberalism. Richard Lowry, National Review, 3 July 2000At the heart of Roosevelt's style in foreign affairs was a certain incorrigible amateurism. His off-the-cuff improvisations, his airy tendency to throw out half-baked ideas, caused others to underrate his continuity of purpose … Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., American Heritage, May/June 1994Eating fugu … is an exotic custom that probably would appeal to every incorrigible mountain climber, skydiver and bungee-jumper in America. Why? The fugu is poisonous—and there's no antidote. Max Friedman, Vegetarian Times, October 1993Yes, this is a book about America … all seen through the fairy-book life of an incorrigible kid, abandoned by his parents and brought up in a reformatory … Stephen Jay Gould, New York Times Book Review, 7 May 1989 an incorrigible habit of playing practical jokes He is always the class clown and his teachers say he is incorrigible. See More
Recent Examples on the WebThe Atlantic risks getting addicted to these yarns because of their popularity among non-Californians, in the same sense that the first taste of human blood has been reputed to turn African lions into incorrigible man-eaters. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 14 June 2022 From the start, Barney was an incorrigible charmer, and Blanche delighted in the attention. April White, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 May 2022 Brown created one of its most popular characters in Cotton, a devout Christian and incorrigible gossip who worked in the local laundromat and assessed her neighbors with a sharp eye and equally sharp tongue. Jill Lawless, USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2022 Instead, more than half the film’s running time is devoted to the party itself, where the incorrigible alpha male Lucas dominates the conversation and makes everyone uncomfortable. Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2022 The one major hiccup came with measuring the flow of heat through the planet: the lander’s heat probe couldn’t punch itself into the ground and get operational thanks to some surprisingly incorrigible soil. Robin George Andrews, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Mar. 2022 New Yorker contributors have always been an incorrigible group of eavesdroppers.The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2022 Part of the answer is incorrigible and long-standing American opposition to experts and authorities of all kinds. Damon Linker, The Week, 1 Feb. 2022 Whoever succeeds Bonin is going to find that the fractured, multi-agency homeless services bureaucracy is an incorrigible beast. Steve Lopez Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Late Latin incorrigibilis, from Latin in- + corrigere to correct — more at correct