adamant
Americanadjective
-
utterly unyielding in attitude or opinion in spite of all appeals, urgings, etc.
- Synonyms:
- uncompromising, rigid, inflexible
-
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.
adjective
-
unshakable in purpose, determination, or opinion; unyielding
-
a less common word for adamantine
noun
-
any extremely hard or apparently unbreakable substance
-
a legendary stone said to be impenetrable, often identified with the diamond or loadstone
Other Word Forms
- adamance noun
- adamancy noun
- adamantly adverb
- unadamant adjective
Etymology
Origin of adamant
First recorded before 900; Middle English, from Old French adamaunt, from Latin adamant- (stem of adamas ) “hard metal (perhaps steel), diamond,” from Greek, equivalent to a- a- 6 + -damant- verbal adjective of damân “to tame, conquer”; replacing Old English athamans (from Medieval Latin ) and Middle English aymont, from Middle French aimant, from unattested Vulgar Latin adimant-, from Latin
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sydney remained adamant that England had fought the wrong enemy, and she and David took up separate residences.
Traveling extensively with her archaeologist husband in Mesopotamia, Christie was adamant that “all I needed was a steady table and a typewriter.”
His decision to combine his Northern Ireland job with Blackburn Rovers was divisive among supporters and media, but he was adamant taking on the job would not impact the World Cup play-off.
From BBC
“Maija was very adamant about really having conversations about understanding the Caribbean style and the Black experience through the Caribbean lens, which was really refreshing,” Garcia told The Times.
From Los Angeles Times
On Thursday, Health Secretary Wes Streeting was adamant the risk to the wider population was "extremely low" and it was "absolutely fine for people to go about living their lives in a normal way".
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
