obdurate

[ ob-doo-rit, -dyoo- ]

/ ˈɒb dʊ rɪt, -dyʊ- /

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adjective

unmoved by persuasion, pity, or tender feelings; stubborn; unyielding.

stubbornly resistant to moral influence; persistently impenitent: an obdurate sinner.

Nearby words

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

SYNONYMS FOR obdurate

1 hard, obstinate, callous, unbending, inflexible.

2 unregenerate, reprobate, shameless.

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ANTONYMS FOR obdurate

1 soft, tractable.

2 humble, repentant.

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Related forms

ob·du·rate·ly, adverbob·du·rate·ness, nounun·ob·du·rate, adjectiveun·ob·du·rate·ly, adverb

un·ob·du·rate·ness, noun

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

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
It happened because of massive and obdurate resistance to reasonable change.
A Little Charlotte History|Michael Tomasky|September 4, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Wotan cannot but be obdurate; he pronounces sentence on Siegmund and goes off in a storming rage.
Richard Wagner|John F. Runciman
For a long while his supplications made no impression on the obdurate African.
The Funny Philosophers|George Yellott

She had made an earnest effort to avoid the journey, but Anne of Austria was obdurate and cruel.
Louis XIV., Makers of History Series|John S. C. Abbott
For this marriage, after playing the obdurate and irascible godfather so long, he was suddenly transformed into a fairy godmother.
The Stones of Paris in History and Letters, Volume II (of 2)|Benjamin Ellis Martin
The governor was obdurate in his decision to stick in the race.
The Attempted Assassination of ex-President Theodore Roosevelt|Oliver Remey

British Dictionary definitions for obdurate

obdurate

/ (ˈɒbdjʊrɪt) /

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.