UNBENDING

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does unbending mean? 

• UNBENDING (adjective)
  The adjective UNBENDING has 1 sense:

1. incapable of adapting or changing to meet circumstances

  Familiarity information: UNBENDING used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• UNBENDING (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Incapable of adapting or changing to meet circumstances

Synonyms:

inflexible; rigid; unbending

Context example:

an unbending will to dominate

Similar:

unadaptable (not adaptable)

 Context examples 

I took the hand she held out with a dignified, unbending air, and it was as calm in mine as if her breast had been at peace.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

They worked harshly in their sockets, with much friction, and each bending or unbending was accomplished only through a sheer exertion of will.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

This man, whose name was Beaufort, was of a proud and unbending disposition and could not bear to live in poverty and oblivion in the same country where he had formerly been distinguished for his rank and magnificence.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

She felt it to be so, though she had not foreseen, and could hardly understand it; for he was not pleasant by any common rule: he talked no nonsense; he paid no compliments; his opinions were unbending, his attentions tranquil and simple.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The belief of being prudent, and self-denying, principally for his advantage, was her chief consolation, under the misery of a parting, a final parting; and every consolation was required, for she had to encounter all the additional pain of opinions, on his side, totally unconvinced and unbending, and of his feeling himself ill used by so forced a relinquishment.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Never, even in the company of his dear friends at Netherfield, or his dignified relations at Rosings, had she seen him so desirous to please, so free from self-consequence or unbending reserve, as now, when no importance could result from the success of his endeavours, and when even the acquaintance of those to whom his attentions were addressed would draw down the ridicule and censure of the ladies both of Netherfield and Rosings.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

There was an inflexibility in her face, in her voice, in her gait and carriage, amply sufficient to account for the effect she had made upon a gentle creature like my mother; but her features were rather handsome than otherwise, though unbending and austere.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)