adamantine
Americanadjective
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utterly unyielding or firm in attitude or opinion.
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too hard to cut, break, or pierce.
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like a diamond in luster.
adjective
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very hard; unbreakable or unyielding
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having the lustre of a diamond
Etymology
Origin of adamantine
First recorded in 1200–1250; Middle English, from Latin adamantinus, from Greek adamántinos see adamant, -ine 1
Explanation
Something adamantine is unbreakable. Adamantine is often used in a figurative way. If you’re bound by adamantine chains, get comfy because you’re not breaking free! When someone is adamant, the person won't budge or yield. Anything adamantine is pretty much unbreakable and invulnerable. Adamantine substances also tend to be bright and shiny like diamonds. When used figuratively, adamantine can describe something unbreakable, like the adamantine will of a marathon runner.
Vocabulary lists containing adamantine
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.
Although in her youth Catherine had imbibed Enlightenment views about the suffering of the common people, she was pragmatic enough to leave undisturbed the adamantine ways of the Russian countryside.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026
To love a Scorpio, then, is to fiercely protect their softness with the same shadowy ardor that they use to construct their inner adamantine fortresses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2024
Amid the images of Putin’s atrocities, we’ve all seen evidence of the Ukrainians’ adamantine humor.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 1, 2022
“She has this sort of adamantine presence onstage. And that weird ability that great actors have to sort of say, ‘OK, now you’re all going to feel this because I’m feeling it,’” he said.
From New York Times ● Oct. 20, 2021
“The haunting begins at midnight,” said the girl with the adamantine chin.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
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.
