Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Hardened in wrongdoing or wickedness; stubbornly impenitent: "obdurate conscience of the old sinner” ( Sir Walter Scott).
- adj. Hardened against feeling; hardhearted: an obdurate miser.
- adj. Not giving in to persuasion; intractable. See Synonyms at inflexible.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To harden; confirm in resistance; make obdurate.
- Hardened, especially against moral influences; wickedly resisting.
- Hard-hearted; inexorable; unyielding; stubborn.
- Inflexible; stiff; harsh.
- Synonyms Obdurate, Callous, Hardened. These words all retain the original meaning of physical hardening, although it is obsolescent with obdurate. In the moral signification, the figure is most felt in the use of callous, which indicates sensibilities to right and wrong deadened by hard treatment, like callous flesh. Hardened is less definite, it being not always clear whether the person is viewed as made hard by circumstances or as having hardened himself against better influences and proper claims. Obdurate is the strongest, and implies most of determination and active resistance. See obstinate.
- Unbending, unsusceptible, insensible.
Wiktionary
- adj. Stubbornly persistent, generally in wrongdoing; refusing to reform or repent.
- adj. obsolete Physically hardened, toughened.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Hardened in feelings, esp. against moral or mollifying influences; unyielding; hard-hearted; stubbornly wicked.
- adj. Hard; harsh; rugged; rough; intractable.
- v. obsolete To harden.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
- adj. showing unfeeling resistance to tender feelings
Etymologies
- Mid 15th century, from Latin obduratus ("hardened"), form of obdūrō, from ob- ("against") + dūrō ("harden, render hard"), from durus ("hard"). Compare durable, endure. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English obdurat, from Late Latin obdūrātus, past participle of obdūrāre, to harden, from Latin, to be hard, endure : ob-, intensive pref.; see ob- + dūrus, hard; see deru- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Geithner plainly has no patience for what he describes as the obdurate unwillingness of colleagues to subordinate their desire for superficial impact to the larger vision.”
“He also defended his seizure of white-owned farms, saying the program pitted the majority against the white minority he described as obdurate and backed by the British.”
“In their valuation of the distribution of grace, theologians distinguish somewhat sharply between ordinary sinners (among whom they include habitual and relapsing sinners) and those sinners whose intellect is blinded, and whose heart is hardened, the so-called obdurate sinners (obcaecati et indurati, impaenitentes).”
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 6: Fathers of the Church-Gregory XI
“He thrilled even now at the recollection of the Hadendowas leaping and stabbing through the breach of McNeil's zareba six miles from Suakin; he recalled the obdurate defence of the Berkshires, the steadiness of the Marines, the rallying of the broken troops.”
“You won't hear American announcers call an "obdurate defense," a terrific pass a "rapier thrust" or a tying goal the "equalizer.”
“She said the LRC was extremely proud of its achievements with the community that included a victory in the Constitutional Court, against "obdurate" opposition by government.”
“He also defended his seizure of white-owned farms, saying the program pitted the majority against an "obdurate" racial minority which he alleged was "supported and manipulated" by Blair.”
“George passed from life with the kind of obdurate resistance and strength of spirit with which he had lived.”
“Demonstrating the kind of obdurate thickness most commonly found in that foreign land known as Washington, Augusta County supervisors - five of them at least, the Gang of Six having been diminished by one - acted Wednesday in accordance with an inevitability predetermined by them.”
“' obdurate '' position was allowing Pakistan†™ s militaristic constituency to up the ante and build up a hostile atmosphere at the expense of its peace-seeking civil society, undermining US goals in Afghanistan.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘obdurate’.
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Muse's tacet ,to learn
Music brings silence's to raging thoughts and temperament , calm, as it is our object of definite purpose.
tacet, cadence, tempo, treble clef, penultimate, lexicon, origin, orchestra, kantele, magus, eros, coalesce and 248 more...
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Familiar
Just a list of words
fulminate, unctuous, malediction, lumpenproletariat, descry, surfeit, sententious, supernumerary, unabashed, picayune, obliterate, decry and 122 more...
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wk24
unwarranted, judicious, capricious, hegemonic, ephemeral, specious, obdurate, inherent, inchoate, artifact, spurious, obsequious and 30 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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GRE Barron's 800
abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abject, abjure, abscission, abscond, abstemious, abstinence, abysmal, accretion and 787 more...
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GRE 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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Used
halcyon, ineluctable, inspissated, incarnadine, askance, demur, saltation, requisite, effusive, specious, liminality, indomitable and 114 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2057 more...
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Philosophic , etymology
every major discipline has uniquely developed esoteric nomenclature to facilitate interdisciplinary dissemination
quale , qualia, elegy, tacet, lexicon, annunciate, caste, eros, contrive, purlicue, irony, venacular, dilapidate and 569 more...
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To Be or Not To Be
Words to live by (or not)
prescient, polyglot, fatuous, phlegmatic, mendacious, pithy, philistine, perspicacious, epicure, ebullient, probity, profligate and 9 more...
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to memorize
words i need to memorize
aberrant, abscond, advocate, aggrandize, amalgamate, ambiguous, ambrosial, anomalous, antediluvian, antipathy, arbitrate, assuage and 163 more...
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All The Words
I enjoy collecting words, for I have no fear of them ever running out.
anacoluthon, defenestration, hypnopomp, hypnagogue, idioglossia, panopticon, tatterdemalion, abalone, caltrop, miasma, paroxysm, smalt and 491 more...
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Hard
Adjectives meaning hard
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ICE
quincunx, adoxography, panjundrum, breloque, surd, scripturient, rousant, favrile, embouchure, aquarelle, griffonage, sussultatory and 521 more...
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The best words
dd
insipid, insouciant, interdict, insularity, internecine, inveigle, invidious, irresolute, jollity, irascible, libretto, promulgate and 84 more...
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GRE Words
abjure, unswear, state, rescission, indemnification, ab, reny, abnegate, vitiated, vitiate, adumbrated, abash and 378 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for obdurate.
darqueau Milton accents the U - obdúrate Jul 14, 2008
bilby I went to see a production of the Mikado at university ... with my Japanese girlfriend. That was an experience. Apr 18, 2008
reesetee Ah, frindley, such memories. As elementary-schoolers, we put on a production of The Mikado and thought it was the grandest thing ever. :-) Apr 18, 2008
frindley "And if you remain callous and obdurate, I
Shall perish as he did, and you will know why,
Though I probably shall not exclaim as I die,
'Oh, willow, titwillow, titwillow!'"
– from "On a tree by a river a little tom-tit"
(Sung by Ko-Ko in The Mikado) Apr 18, 2008
chained_bear Hardened in wrongdoing or sin; stubbornly impenitent; resistant or insensible to moral influence.
Usage: The number of obdurate papists and Italianate atheists is great at this time. (1572) Feb 3, 2007