hidebound

adjective

hide·​bound ˈhīd-ˌbau̇nd 

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

Did you know?

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.

Synonyms

• archconservative
• brassbound
• button-down
• buttoned-down
• conservative
• die-hard
• mossbacked
• old-fashioned
• old-line
• old-school
• orthodox
• paleoconservative
• reactionary
• standpat
• traditional
• traditionalistic
• ultraconservative
• unprogressive

Examples of hidebound in a Sentence

the hidebound innkeeper refused to see the need for a website, insisting that the inn had done without one for over 150 years

Recent Examples on the Web

The presidential debates have in the past been hidebound affairs – and with good reason. —Brian Steinberg, Variety, 11 Sep. 2024

The first reason has to do with India’s hidebound and insular foreign policy establishment. —Sumit Ganguly, Foreign Affairs, 8 Mar. 2018

These outward-looking provinces felt far from the hidebound, internecine conservatism of the capital. —Nick Frisch, Foreign Affairs, 17 May 2016

But we have not entirely broken with hidebound, stagnant tradition. —Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker, 27 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1603, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

hidebound

adjective

hide·​bound -ˌbau̇nd 

1

: having a dry skin adhering closely to the underlying flesh

a hidebound horse

2

: stubbornly unwilling to change

Medical Definition

hidebound

adjective

hide·​bound ˈhīd-ˌbau̇nd 

1

: having a dry skin lacking in pliancy and adhering closely to the underlying flesh

—used of domestic animals

2

: having scleroderma

—used of human beings