obdurate

[ob-doo-rit, -dyoo-]

See more synonyms for obdurate on Thesaurus.com

adjective

unmoved by persuasion, pity, or tender feelings; stubborn; unyielding.
stubbornly resistant to moral influence; persistently impenitent: an obdurate sinner.

Origin of obdurate

1400–50; late Middle English obdurat < Latin obdūrātus (past participle of obdūrāre to harden), equivalent to ob- ob- + dūr(us) hard + -ātus -ate¹

Related formsob·du·rate·ly, adverbob·du·rate·ness, nounun·ob·du·rate, adjectiveun·ob·du·rate·ly, adverbun·ob·du·rate·ness, noun

Synonyms for obdurate

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1. hard, obstinate, callous, unbending, inflexible. 2. unregenerate, reprobate, shameless.

Antonyms for obdurate

1. soft, tractable. 2. humble, repentant.

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

Related Words for obdurate

adamant, callous, dogged, firm, fixed, hard, hard-boiled, hard-nosed, harsh, heartless, immovable, implacable, inexorable, inflexible, iron, mean, mulish, obstinate, perverse, relentless

Examples from the Web for obdurate

Contemporary Examples of obdurate

Yet instead of scaling back their political ambitions in the face of an obdurate reality, they are escalating them.
Are Moderate Republicans Useless?
David Frum
January 29, 2013
It happened because of massive and obdurate resistance to reasonable change.
A Little Charlotte History
Michael Tomasky
September 4, 2012

Historical Examples of obdurate

Mrs Varden was obdurate, and being so was not to be overcome by mortal agency.
Barnaby Rudge
Charles Dickens
But, when she found Jane obdurate, Mrs. Snow might have surrendered.
The Portygee
Joseph Crosby Lincoln
"Obdurate, indeed, is the case that will not yield to such medicine as mine," she said.
The Historical Nights' Entertainment
Rafael Sabatini
But thanks to Providence, all hearts were not so obdurate as Rita's.
A Forest Hearth: A Romance of Indiana in the Thirties
Charles Major
"She told me she 'd not see anybody, sir," was the obdurate reply.
Davenport Dunn, Volume 1 (of 2)
Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for obdurate

obdurate

adjective

not easily moved by feelings or supplication; hardhearted
impervious to persuasion, esp to moral persuasion

Derived Formsobduracy or obdurateness, nounobdurately, adverb

Word Origin for obdurate

C15: from Latin obdūrāre to make hard, from ob- (intensive) + dūrus hard; compare endure

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 obdurate

adj.

mid-15c., "stubborn; hardened," from Latin obduratus "hardened," past participle of obdurare "be hard, hold out, persist, endure," from ob "against" (see ob-) + durare "harden, render hard," from durus "hard" (see endure). Related: Obdurately.