inelastic
Americanadjective
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not elastic; lacking flexibility or resilience; unyielding.
- Synonyms:
- uncompromising, rigid, inflexible
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Economics. relatively unresponsive to changes, as demand when it fails to increase in proportion to a decrease in price.
adjective
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not elastic; not resilient
-
physics (of collisions) involving an overall decrease in translational kinetic energy
Other Word Forms
- inelastically adverb
- inelasticity noun
Etymology
Origin of inelastic
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When demand is inelastic and the social value of consumption is neutral or positive, it doesn’t pay to enforce prohibition.
It’s about structural supply constraints meeting inelastic industrial demand.
From MarketWatch
“Silver supply is structurally inelastic, with around 70-80% of global silver output coming as a by-product from mines that primarily produce lead, zinc, copper or gold,” Manthey said.
In Hsueh’s mind, this clears the way for reserve managers at central banks to step in, “given their theoretically infinite investment horizon” and a major source of “inelastic demand growth since 2021.”
From MarketWatch
I’m also positive on Vital Farms, the market leader in pasture-raised eggs—an inelastic product at grocery stores.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
