mulish

mul·ish

adjective \ˈmyü-lish\

Definition of MULISH

: unreasonably and inflexibly obstinate

— mul·ish·ly adverb

— mul·ish·ness noun

Examples of MULISH

1. She approached the job with mulish determination.
2. a mulish insistence on doing things his own way

Origin of MULISH

¹mule

First Known Use: 1751

Related to MULISH

Synonyms

adamant, adamantine, bullheaded, dogged, hard, hardened, hardheaded, hard-nosed, headstrong, immovable, implacable, inconvincible, inflexible, intransigent, obstinate, obdurate, opinionated, ossified, pat, pertinacious, perverse, pigheaded, self-opinionated, self-willed, stiff-necked, stubborn, unbending, uncompromising, unrelenting, unyielding, willful (or wilful)

Antonyms

acquiescent, agreeable, amenable, compliant, complying, flexible, pliable, pliant, relenting, yielding

Related Words

anal-retentive, obsessive; wayward, wrongheaded; determined, hell-bent, inexorable, persistent, relentless, resolved, set, single-minded, steadfast, stouthearted, tenacious, unflinching; firm, hard-line, hard-shell (or hard-shelled), iron, severe, stern, strict; hidebound, narrow-minded, rigid; bloody-minded [chiefly British], cantankerous; contrary, cussed; contumacious, disobedient, froward, insubordinate, intractable, recalcitrant, refractory, uncooperative, ungovernable, unmanageable, unruly; defiant, insurgent, mutinous; indomitable, invincible, unconquerable; confirmed, inveterate, unregenerate; demanding, exacting

Near Antonyms

docile, obedient, placable, submissive, tractable; accepting, persuadable, receptive, responsive, willing; governable, manageable, reasonable, temperate; slavish, subservient

See Synonym Discussion at obstinate

Rhymes with MULISH

coolish, foolish, ghoulish