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obdurate

[ob-doo-rit, -dyoo-]
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adjective

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

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RELATED WORDS

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

Nearby words

  1. obdt,
  2. obdt.,
  3. obduce,
  4. obduction,
  5. obduracy,
  6. obduration,
  7. obe,
  8. obeah,
  9. obeche,
  10. obedience

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
ANTONYMS FOR obdurate
1. soft, tractable. 2. humble, repentant.
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Related forms
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for obdurate

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

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper