Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Stubbornly adhering to an attitude, opinion, or course of action; obdurate.
  • adjective Characterized by such adherence.
  • adjective Difficult to manage, control, or treat.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertinaciously adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course of action; not yielding to argument, persuasion, or entreaty; headstrong.
  • Springing from or indicating obstinacy.
  • Not easily controlled or removed; unyielding to treatment: as, an obstinate cough; an obstinate headache.
  • Synonyms Obstinate, Stubborn, Intractable, Refractory, Contumacious, pertinacious, headstrong, unyielding, dogged, wilful, persistent, immovable, inflexible, firm, resolute. The first five words now imply a strong and vicious or disobedient refusal to yield, a resolute or unmanageable standing upon one's own will. Stubborn is strictly negative: a stubborn child will not listen to advice or commands, but perhaps has no definite purpose of his own. Obstinate is active: the obstinate man will carry out his intention in spite of advice, remonstrance, appeals, or force. The last three of the italicized words imply disobedience to proper authority. Intractable, literally not to be drawn, handled, or governed, is negative; so is refractory: both suggest sullenness or perverseness; refractory is more appropriate where resistance is physical: hence the extension of the word to apply to metals. Contumacious combines pride, haughtiness, or insolence with disobedience; in law it means wilfully disobedient to the orders of a court.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Pertinaciously adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course; persistent; not yielding to reason, arguments, or other means; stubborn; pertinacious; -- usually implying unreasonableness.
  • adjective Not yielding; not easily subdued or removed

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Stubbornly adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course, usually with implied unreasonableness; persistent.
  • adjective Said of inanimate things not easily subdued or removed.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective resistant to guidance or discipline
  • adjective stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
  • verb persist stubbornly
  • adjective tenaciously unwilling or marked by tenacious unwillingness to yield

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

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

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin obstinātus, past participle of obstinō ("set one's mind firmly upon, resolve"), from ob ("before") + *stinare, from stare ("to stand").

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Examples

  • Beth had been lying back against the seat for an hour or more with her eyes closed, having complained of a headache after quarreling with him again over what she termed his obstinate refusal to be conciliating with Richmond.

    Shameless KAREN ROBARDS 2010

  • Beth had been lying back against the seat for an hour or more with her eyes closed, having complained of a headache after quarreling with him again over what she termed his obstinate refusal to be conciliating with Richmond.

    Shameless KAREN ROBARDS 2010

  • Pained at what he called the obstinate infatuation of Miss Beaufort, and if possible more chagrined by what he considered the blind and absurd encouragement of his aunt, Mr. Somerset lost the whole of her last reprimand in his hurry to quit the room.

    Thaddeus of Warsaw Jane Porter 1813

  • I'm sure he'll remain obstinate and continue to promote abortion.

    Bishop bars Patrick Kennedy from communion over abortion 2009

  • With Republicans being just plain obstinate and irresponsible and now many Democrats following a similar path just to make sure their jobs are intact next election there doesn't appear to be much hope for anything meaningful.

    Lieberman opposes Medicare at 55 2009

  • His long upper lip went down in obstinate resistance to impulse.

    Lady Bridget in the Never-Never Land 1915

  • Accordingly she called the obstinate and sulky Pauline before her.

    Girls of the Forest L. T. Meade 1884

  • So obstinate is she that God has to "allure her," that is, so to temper judgment with unlooked-for grace as to win her to His ways.

    Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible 1871

  • I heard myself called obstinate and wilful, only because I believed myself in the right, and persisted in it.

    A Practical Illustration of "Woman's Right to Labor" A Letter from Marie E. Zakrzewska, M.D. Late of Berlin, Prussia Caroline Healey Dall 1865

  • Note, Though it is God's gracious method to bear long with sinners, yet he will not bear always; at length he will come, and will not spare those who remain obstinate and impenitent, notwithstanding all his methods to reclaim and reform them.

    Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume VI (Acts to Revelation) 1721

Comments

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  • The name of the one was Obstinate and the name of the other Pliable.

    John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress

    September 19, 2009

  • معاند

    کله شق

    December 5, 2012