stiff-necked
Americanadjective
-
having a stiff neck; having torticollis.
-
haughty and obstinate; refractory.
- Synonyms:
- pigheaded, willful, intractable, obstinate, stubborn
adjective
Other Word Forms
- stiffneckedly adverb
- stiffneckedness noun
Etymology
Origin of stiff-necked
First recorded in 1520–30
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.
Watson is in a perpetual state of stiff-necked choler tinged with snobbery — “I am better educated, more wealthy and stronger than you are,” he tells Bea, who is unmoved.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2021
"I would argue that both governments have been excessively stiff-necked," Bunn says.
From Science Magazine • Aug. 31, 2017
But America has a proud history of stiff-necked heroes.
From Washington Post • Jan. 9, 2017
Mattie was an especially hard role, requiring an inexperienced actress to convey her "very adult, very self-possessed, very stiff-necked Protestant sensibility," Ethan Coen said.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 24, 2010
"You stiff-necked fool," he mut-tered, "too proud to listen. Can you eat pride, Stark? Will honor shield your children?"
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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.
