obdurate
Americanadjective
-
unmoved by persuasion, pity, or tender feelings; stubborn; unyielding.
- Synonyms:
- inflexible, unbending, callous, obstinate, hard
-
stubbornly resistant to moral influence; persistently impenitent.
an obdurate sinner.
- Synonyms:
- shameless, reprobate, unregenerate
adjective
-
not easily moved by feelings or supplication; hardhearted
-
impervious to persuasion, esp to moral persuasion
Other Word Forms
Etymology
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 -ate 1
Explanation
Obdurate is a formal word meaning stubborn. If you want to major in English, but your parents are obdurate that you should go premed, they might go so far as to threaten not to pay your tuition. This adjective descends from Latin obdurare, "to harden." A near synonym is adamant, from Latin adamas, "hard metal, diamond." So both of these synonyms derive from the quality of hardness being associated with a stubborn personality.
Vocabulary lists containing obdurate
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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.
To the religious authorities in England in the early 16th century, an obdurate Oxford scholar became a public enemy.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
Jordan Clark and Kemar Roach ran down the overs with an obdurate partnership before the former was bowled by Vaughan for a 47-ball duck.
From BBC • Sep. 12, 2024
During the New Deal, the most obdurate critics of Franklin Roosevelt’s policies were Democrats — Southern Democrats, to be sure, but his party members nonetheless — while among his most loyal supporters were liberal Republicans.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 27, 2024
Admittedly, with that preeminence has come changes that even an obdurate critic like me must hail.
From Salon • Dec. 9, 2023
To get this far one had to have an uncommonly obdurate personality.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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.
