adamant

[ad-uh-muhnt, -mant]

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adjective

utterly unyielding in attitude or opinion in spite of all appeals, urgings, etc.

too hard to cut, break, or pierce.

noun

any impenetrably or unyieldingly hard substance.

a legendary stone of impenetrable hardness, formerly sometimes identified with the diamond.

Nearby words

Origin of adamant

before 900; Middle English < Old French adamaunt < Latin adamant- (stem of adamas) hard metal (perhaps steel), diamond < Greek, equivalent to a- a-⁶ + -damant- verbal adjective of damân to tame, conquer; replacing Old English athamans (< Medieval Latin) and Middle English aymont < Middle French aimant < Vulgar Latin *adimant- < Latin

SYNONYMS FOR adamant

1. inflexible, rigid, uncompromising.

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ANTONYMS FOR adamant

1. flexible, easygoing, yielding.

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Related formsad·a·man·cy

[ad-uh-muhn-see] /ˈæd ə mən si/, ad·a·mance, nounad·a·mant·ly, adverbun·ad·a·mant, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for adamant

Even the most adamant Obamacare opponent must acknowledge, as Kasich has, that its coverage expansion has helped some people.
John Kasich: The GOP’s Hobbled 2016 Dark Horse|W. James Antle III|November 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They are also as adamant about the tone they want to strike.
Inside the Political Fun House: How ‘Alpha House’ Became Amazon’s First Big Hit|Kevin Fallon|October 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They are adamant that their women-only concerts are not a result of religious rules.
The Sisterhood of Bulletproof Stockings: It’s Ladies’ Night for Hasidic Rockers|Emily Shire|September 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Despite all the visual cues which might suggest otherwise, Manning was adamant that he was not trying to promote himself.
‘Crazy’ Harlem Pastor Hates on Obama and Gays|Olivia Nuzzi|September 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Many of the survivors were adamant that the fighters were made up of foreign nationals from all over the world.
Rape and Sexual Slavery Inside an ISIS Prison|Ford Sypher|August 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There must then be in beauty and virtue an invincible charm, that opens gates of adamant and softens hearts of steel.
Voltaire's Romances|Franois-Marie Arouet
A little dust of snow, fine and dry as flour, whirled about her, and the trail was hard as adamant beneath her pony's feet.
Delilah of the Snows|Harold Bindloss
And then we were brought on the Adamant, and handcuffed again.
The Road to Paris|Robert Neilson Stephens
Jack and his sister had an unhappy hour over it, but Jean was adamant in her decision.
Neighbours|Robert Stead
The property might be sold or squandered,—but the political creed was fixed as adamant.
The Prime Minister|Anthony Trollope

British Dictionary definitions for adamant

adamant

adjective

unshakable in purpose, determination, or opinion; unyielding

a less common word for adamantine (def. 1)

noun

any extremely hard or apparently unbreakable substance

a legendary stone said to be impenetrable, often identified with the diamond or loadstone

Derived Formsadamantly, adverb

Word Origin for adamant

Old English: from Latin adamant-, stem of adamas, from Greek; literal meaning perhaps: unconquerable, from a- 1 + daman to tame, conquer

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for adamant

adamant

adj.

late 14c., "hard, unbreakable," from adamant (n.). Figurative sense of "unshakeable" first recorded 1670s. Related: Adamantly; adamance.

adamant

mid-14c., from Old French adamant and directly from Latin adamantem (nominative adamas) "adamant, hardest iron, steel," also figuratively, of character, from Greek adamas (genitive adamantos) "unbreakable, inflexible" metaphoric of anything unalterable, also the name of a hypothetical hardest material, perhaps literally "invincible," from a- "not" + daman "to conquer, to tame" (see tame (adj.)), or else a word of foreign origin altered to conform to Greek.

Applied in antiquity to white sapphire, magnet (perhaps via confusion with Latin adamare "to love passionately"), steel, emery stone, and especially diamond (see diamond). The word was in Old English as aðamans "a very hard stone."

adamant

adjective

noun

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Origin of adamant

Examples from the Web for adamant

adamant

adjective

noun

Word Origin for adamant

adamant

adamant