inextensible

Refuses to stretch

Inextensible describes something that cannot be stretched or extended.

The term appears most often in physics and engineering, where an inextensible rope or cable is treated as having fixed length under tension: For simplicity, assume the string is inextensible.

The word contrasts with extensible, which describes materials that can stretch.

rigid

stiff

Not easily bent

inflexibleUnable to bend
unbendingRefusing to change position
unyieldingRefusing to give way

fixed · immovable · solid · hard · firm · sturdy · resistant · brittle · taut · nonpliable

nonstretchable

inelastic

Resistant to deformation

unexpandableUnable to increase in size
unextendableUnable to be prolonged
nonelasticUnable to stretch

unstretching · tight · tensile · fixed · permanent · uncompressible · woven · braided · Kevlar · steel cable

constraint

limit

Maximum allowed extent

limitationBound on extent
boundaryLine marking a limit
ceilingRoom's upper surface

cap · restriction · barrier · threshold · finite · bounded · determinate · unchangeable · unmodifiable · immutable

Opposites

physical stretchability

inextensibleextensible

Able to be lengthened

elastic · stretchable · stretchy · flexible · pliable

expandability/adaptability

inextensibleextensible

Able to be lengthened

expandable · extendable · scalable · flexible · adaptable

Family

extend, intense, extent, intensity, extension, intensify, extensive, extended, intensive

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