Definitions

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

  • adjective Refusing to change one's mind or course of action despite pressure to do so; unyielding or resolute. synonym: obstinate.
  • adjective Characterized by a refusal to change one's mind or course of action; dogged or persistent.
  • adjective Difficult to treat or deal with; resistant to treatment or effort.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Sturdy; stout; strong.
  • Fixed or set in opinion or purpose; obstinately determined; inflexibly resolute; not to be moved by persuasion; unyielding.
  • Persistently obdurate; obtuse to reason or right; obstinately perverse.
  • Persistently pursued or practised; obstinately maintained; not readily abandoned or relinquished.
  • Difficult of treatment or management; hard to deal with or handle; not easily manipulated; refractory; tough; unyielding; stiff.
  • Harsh; rough; rude; coarse in texture or quality.
  • Synonyms and Refractory, Intractable, etc. (see obstinate); wilful, headstrong, unruly, inflexible, obdurate, ungovernable, indocile, mulish.
  • To make stubborn; render stiff, unyielding, enduring, or the like.

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

  • adjective Firm as a stub or stump; stiff; unbending; unyielding; persistent; hence, unreasonably obstinate in will or opinion; not yielding to reason or persuasion; refractory; harsh; -- said of persons and things

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

  • adjective Refusing to move or to change one's opinion; obstinate; firmly resisting.

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

  • adjective not responding to treatment
  • adjective tenaciously unwilling or marked by tenacious unwillingness to yield

Etymologies

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

[Middle English stuborn.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English stoburn, stoburne, styburne, stiborn; probable origin *stybor, *stibor, apparently from Old English styb ("a stump, stub") + adj. formative -or as in Old English bitor, English bitter.

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