intransigent
adjective
Did you know?
Intransigent comes from Spanish intransigente, meaning "uncompromising." Its root is transigir ("to compromise"), which is related to Latin transigere ("to come to an agreement"). The French have a similar verb, transiger, which also means "to compromise." Transigent as an opposite of intransigent has yet to become recognized as an acceptable word in the English language.
Synonyms
- adamant
- adamantine
- bullheaded
- dogged
- hard
- hard-nosed
- hardened
- hardheaded
- headstrong
- immovable
- implacable
- inconvincible
- inflexible
- mulish
- obdurate
- obstinate
- opinionated
- ossified
- pat
- pertinacious
- perverse
- pigheaded
- self-opinionated
- self-willed
- stiff-necked
- stubborn
- unbending
- uncompromising
- unrelenting
- unyielding
- willful
- wilful
Examples of intransigent in a Sentence
Jane Hirshfield, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024
While Biden has tried his best to try to blame the push toward a Rafah invasion on an intransigent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the operation is supported by an overwhelming majority of Israelis who recognize the move as necessary to defeating Hamas.
—The Editors, National Review, 13 Mar. 2024
Days follow an equally intransigent timetable: 6:15 a.m.
—Jane Alexander, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Feb. 2024
And the Chinese government has proved similarly intransigent in the face of Biden’s pressure.
—Peter E. Harrell, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2023
As a result, some of the more intransigent managers have run into a whole host of issues.
—Jane Thier, Fortune, 15 Nov. 2023
Wojnarowicz’s sister, Pat, told Carr that Wojnarowicz’s alcoholic father, an intransigent merchant mariner, used to beat his three children one by one in the basement as the others waited on the lawn, listening to the screams.
—David O’Neill, The New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2023
The other band members were gracious and discreet, but enough was said to leave the impression of a faintly aristocratic Reed who was graceless and intransigent.
—Ian Penman, The New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2023
Benzion, who died in 2012 at age 102, was an intransigent, difficult man.
—Ruth Margalit, New York Times, 27 Sep. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'intransigent.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near intransigent
Cite this Entry
“Intransigent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intransigent. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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