hidebound

hidebound \HAHYD-bound\, adjective:

narrow-minded and stubborn

In recent years, there has been another voice on the scene -- one that has infused this hidebound, somewhat predictable genre with an unsettling energy
-- Daphne Merkin, Retirement Benefits, New York Times, December 17, 2000

They were class-bound, hidebound and incapable of expressing their emotions
-- Jeremy Paxman, The English

by 1559, from hide "cattle skin" + past tense of bind. Original reference is to emaciated cattle with skin sticking closely to backbones and ribs; metaphoric sense of "restricted by narrow attitudes" is first recorded 1603.