sclerotic thinking
- noun
- /skləˈrɒtɪk ˈθɪŋkɪŋ/
- Formal
:
pensamiento esclerótico
- The company suffered from sclerotic thinking among its leadership, stifling growth and change.
Examples
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Academic institutions can sometimes be hampered by sclerotic thinking that resists new teaching methods.
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Her sclerotic thinking prevented the team from adopting any innovative approaches.
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Avoid sclerotic thinking!
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Don't fall into sclerotic thinking!
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Many organizations fail to thrive due to sclerotic thinking that inhibits creativity and adaptation.
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His sclerotic thinking made it difficult for him to accept new ideas during the brainstorming session.
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The workshop aimed to challenge sclerotic thinking in the industry and promote more flexible strategies.
Synonyms
1
8.3
Refusing to change ideas or plans even when it is not reasonable
A very old-fashioned strict opinion that refuses new ideas
A fixed, routine way of doing something that lacks creativity
Antonyms
How Rigid
Surface Forms
Morphology
The adjective 'sclerotic' denotes 'hardened' or resistant (even if originally medical), so combined with 'thinking' the phrase straightforwardly means 'hardened, rigid or inflexible thinking.' This adjective+noun composition follows a usual metaphorical pattern (hard = inflexible) found across languages, so a learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Sclerotic thinking comes from the word sclerotic, which was used for parts of the body that became hard and stiff, and thinking. Imagine your mind becoming hard and stiff so it cannot bend. That's why it means 'rigid' and 'unable to accept new ideas'.