What's that word that.....

July 11, 2012 3:23 PM

There's a word that means "inflexible", "hidebound", "set in their ways", "slow to change". It's a metaphorical word similar to "ossified" or "calcified", but the metaphor related to the body and means, roughly, "paralyzed".

Am I imagining this word?

posted by dontjumplarry to Writing & Language (17 answers total)

Rigid?
posted by mudpuppie at 3:25 PM on July 11, 2012

Best answer: Sclerotic?
posted by TristanPK at 3:26 PM on July 11, 2012 [10 favorites]

Staid
posted by rhizome at 3:31 PM on July 11, 2012

stubborn
posted by katypickle at 3:33 PM on July 11, 2012

atrophied
posted by unknowncommand at 3:34 PM on July 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

Adamant?
Catonian?
Stiff-necked?
posted by DisreputableDog at 3:36 PM on July 11, 2012

Inveterate?
posted by Patbon at 3:39 PM on July 11, 2012

Flinty?
Stony?
Fossilized?
Ironbound?
Ironclad?
Rock-ribbed?
Petrified?
Obdurate?
posted by DisreputableDog at 3:39 PM on July 11, 2012

stodgy
posted by Brian B. at 3:49 PM on July 11, 2012

Recalcitrant?
posted by pdq at 3:50 PM on July 11, 2012

Torpid?
posted by likeso at 3:52 PM on July 11, 2012

Palsied?
posted by downing street memo at 4:02 PM on July 11, 2012

Response by poster: Thanks TristanPK!
posted by dontjumplarry at 4:02 PM on July 11, 2012

Not sure if it matters at all, but sclerotic doesn't mean paralyzed. Think hardened or stiffened.
posted by pecanpies at 5:52 PM on July 11, 2012

Stultified? "To render useless or ineffectual; cripple."
posted by katyggls at 8:41 PM on July 11, 2012

What the hell? I love this thread. Thanks for teaching me a new word.
posted by simulacra at 11:01 PM on July 11, 2012

Torpid is a good one too.
posted by Demogorgon at 1:41 PM on July 12, 2012