Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Determined to have one's own way; stubbornly and often recklessly willful. See Synonyms at obstinate, unruly.
- adj. Resulting from willfulness and obstinacy.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Wilful; ungovernable; obstinate; bent on pursuing one's own ends.
- Directed by or proceeding from obstinate wilfulness: as, a headstrong course.
- Synonyms Intractable, unruly, stubborn, dogged.
Wiktionary
- adj. Determined to do as one pleases, and not as others want.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Not easily restrained; ungovernable; obstinate; stubborn.
- adj. Directed by ungovernable will, or proceeding from obstinacy.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. habitually disposed to disobedience and opposition
Etymologies
- head + strong (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The only way this can be done practically, though, is if Sarah receives a rollback, a brand new rejuvenation technique that can only be afforded to the rich and powerful - like a certain headstrong millionaire.”
“Both are known as headstrong leaders unaccustomed to sharing power.”
“But I felt that it was clear that the least want of firmness at the outset would endanger my whole educational plan; therefore, I stood firm, and indeed gained my point, though at the price of being called headstrong, self-willed, and stubborn.”
“My daughter brings new meaning to the terms "single-minded" and "headstrong" -- so for pretty much all of her life attempting to argue with her has just re-invigorated her determination to go her own way.”
“This is especially true for the "headstrong" kids.”
“Because I know I'm the good girl, the pure girl, the smart girl, the over-achieving girl ... and maybe it's something about everything that makes me the kind of headstrong girl that the bad boys have fun chasing after.”
“Homer (in the _Odyssey_ at any rate), Herodotus (in what was certainly not intentional fiction at all), and Xenophon [5] are about the only Greek writers who can tell a story, for the magnificent narrative of Thucydides in such cases as those of the Plague and the Syracusan cataclysm shows all the "headstrong”
A History of the French Novel, Vol. 1 From the Beginning to 1800
“The greatest errors of Mr.. Action proceed from a kind of headstrong feminine propensity, which she has to be doing before her husband, Mr. Calculation, has given her proper directions.”
“It is believed that Range plotted with Amelle Berrabah to get the "headstrong" Buchanan out of the band and rope in someone who would help their album sales in the US.”
Gaea Times (by Simple Thoughts) Breaking News and incisive views 24/7
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘headstrong’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Dominant/Submissive
abusive, adamant, autocratic, bossy, bullheaded, bumptious, certain, cock-a-hoop, cocksure, cocky, commanding, compelling and 189 more...
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Public List: Body Metaphors
Phrases that use body parts metaphorically.
neck of the woods, bone of contention, mouth of a river, teeth of the storm, heart of the matter, foot of the bed, eye of the storm, dogleg hole, finger lakes, headwaters, foothills, knik arm and 212 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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WF - nominal compounds (figurative)
An extensive list I have been working on for quite some time. Feel free to add more of the kind if you miss any.
brainstorming, upside, downside, goldplating, bikeshedding, mudslinging, downgrading, headhunter, streamlining, mainstreaming, gerrymandering, frontloading and 503 more...
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I am : oppressive
Words that are oppressive. Describing anger, violence, aggression (overt and covert), opposition, tension. strong stance and lack of harmony.
Still working on exact definition...angry, enraged, furious, mad, obstreperous, violent, aggressive, truculent, obdurate, obstinate, defiant, hostile and 33 more...
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anatomopeia
Sounds like you are .........
green-fingered, lily-livered, yellow-bellied, bleary-eyed, hare-brained, loose-tongued, tongue-tied, sure-footed, two-faced, double-jointed, light-fingered, bone idle and 71 more...
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SAT_RW
bigot, remuneration, kindle, noxious, abhor, placid, enfranchise, counterfeit, hamper, Abrasive, bilk, covert and 87 more...
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Keeping Secrets
Words of 10 letters, all different, can be used for encrypting, pretty securely, such things as PINs and passwords. The fly in the ointment, for me, in keeping track of them is I've got to write '...
lumberjack, birthplace, whiskeybar, vanquished, metaphysic, precaution, quizmaster, dumbwaiter, thumbscrew, blacksmith, wholegrain, wanderlust and 105 more...
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Revised GRE Wordlist_2013
Vocabulary building for my quest of GRE 2013
ephemeral, esoteric, rhetoric, censure, egregious, pittance, dupe, mulct, paucity, alacrity, maintain, laconic and 997 more...
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Some new Wordie words this week
Don't tell them they are not real--they might cry.
glover, breakfront, submaximal, criticality, lanoline, mouthy, botheration, metaphorically, metaphase, disavowal, arum, ostentatiously and 162 more...
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Jacqueline's Words
glittery, horny, amazing, wanderlust, forlorn, lustily, nonchalant, cool, passive, submissive, roundabout, carousel and 558 more...
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Hodges English 10 Vocab
All the vocab will get in class over the year.
aberration, acrimony, adduce, anthropomorphous, caitiff, chagrin, clement, connote, deluge, deride, dissemble, edify and 213 more...
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Sat Vocabulary List
abandon, abash, abate, abjure, ablution, abnegate, abominable, aboriginal, abortive, abrade, abridge, abrogate and 2155 more...
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SAT Words
bigot, counterfeit, abhor, talisman, remuneration, placid, noxious, kindle, hamper, enfranchise, tangent, renown and 278 more...
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New GRE Preparation List
All the words which I encounter during my GRE studies. :)
rhetoric, errant, arrant, artless, artful, ephemeral, libel, rhapsody, cloy, conjecture, relegate, aberrant and 927 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for headstrong.
bilby Was he that when he was older? Or did he remain this? What about when he was other, and middle aged? Please explain. Jul 22, 2012
dailyword Obi-Wan was this when he was younger. Jul 22, 2012