obstinate

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It doesn't seem so to me Oh, you are obstinate--obstinate Perhaps!

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Definitions (13)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. adjective Stubbornly adhering to an attitude, opinion, or course of action; obdurate.
  2. adjective Difficult to manage, control, or subdue; refractory.
  3. adjective Difficult to alleviate or cure: an obstinate headache.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (4)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • All hands hoped that he would prove obstinate, and give them the chance of trying their shot and shell against his stone batteries By the evening of the 21st no answer had been given, and Jack, with the other captains and commanders, having been summoned on board the flagship, returned in high spirits with the announcement that the place was to be attacked The next morning, Ben Snatchblock's shrill pipe sounding along the decks roused up the watch below, who sprang on deck with even more than their usual alacrity. —  The Three Commanders
  • One, who was more reasonable and had more knowledge of the world than the rest, lived at a distance; two of the other three resigned all their authority into the hands of the fourth; and this fourth, with whom I had to negotiate, was a worthy man in his way, but haughty, obstinate, and intolerant of all opposition to his will. —  Confessions of an English Opium-Eater
  • Quentyns is the best of fellows, but he can be dogged and obstinate--I hope to goodness there's nothing up in that pretty little home of theirs Aloud Rivers said abruptly, "I had thought of asking you to dine at the club with me, and then we might have gone to see Irving in Henry VIII._,--a friend has given me two stalls,--but on second thoughts I can dispose of those tickets. —  A Young Mutineer
  • Beelzebub was obstinate, and would not appear. —  Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
  • For there was in Julius a strain of obstinate, almost fanatic, loyalty. —  The History of Sir Richard Calmady A Romance
 

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

stubborn ·  selfish ·  fierce ·  resolute ·  perverse ·  persistent ·  rebellious ·  reckless ·  jealous ·  vindictive ·  aggressive ·  headstrong
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English obstinat, from Latin obstinātus, past participle of obstināre, to persist; see stā- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle Latin obstenate, from Old French obstinat, also obstiné, French obstiné = Spanish Portuguese obstinado = Italian ostinato, from Latin obstinatus, firmly set, resolute, stubborn, obstinate, past participle of obstinare, set one's mind firmly upon, resolve, from ob, before, + stinare from stare, stand: see state. Cf. destine, destinate.
 

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/ˈɑbstɪnət/
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