obdurate

[ ob-doo-rit, -dyoo- ]
/ ˈɒb dʊ rɪt, -dyʊ- /
SEE 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.

QUIZZES

HEED THE VOX POPULI, AND TAKE THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!

Test your memory on these verbal firecrackers from the week of June 29 to July 5!
Question 1 of 7
anchorite
a granular metamorphic rock.
a person who has retired to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion.
a hobble or fetter for a horse or other animal.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

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

OTHER WORDS FROM obdurate

Words nearby obdurate

obdt, obdt., obduce, obduction, obduracy, obdurate, obe, obeah, obeche, obedience, obedience training
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to obdurate

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

Example sentences from the Web for obdurate

British Dictionary definitions for obdurate

obdurate
/ (ˈɒbdjʊrɪt) /

adjective

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

Derived forms of obdurate

obduracy 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