obstinacy

ob·sti·na·cy

noun \ˈäb-stə-nə-sē\

plural ob·sti·na·cies

Definition of OBSTINACY

1

a : the quality or state of being obstinate : stubbornness

b : the quality or state of being difficult to remedy, relieve, or subdue <the obstinacy of tuberculosis>

2

: an instance of being obstinate

Examples of OBSTINACY

1. <the mindless obstinacy of those people who continue to insist that the earth is flat>

First Known Use of OBSTINACY

14th century

Related to OBSTINACY

Synonyms

bullheadedness, doggedness, hardheadedness, intransigence, mulishness, obduracy, obdurateness, obstinateness, opinionatedness, pertinaciousness, pertinacity, pigheadedness, self-opinionatedness, self-will, stubbornness, willfulness

Related Words

anal-retentiveness, perverseness, perversity, waywardness, wrongheadedness; adamancy (also adamance), determination, implacability, inexorability, inflexibility, inveteracy, perseverence, persistence, persistency, relentlessness, resolve, single-mindedness, steadfastness, stick-to-itiveness, tenaciousness, tenacity; firmness, hardness, rigor, rigorousness, sternness, strictness; narrow-mindedness, rigidity, rigidness; bloody-mindedness [chiefly British], cantankerousness, contrariness, cussedness; balkiness, contumacy, defiance, disobedience, frowardness, immovability, immovableness, insubordination, intractibility, obstreperousness, rebelliousness, recalcitrance, recalcitrancy, refractoriness, unruliness

Near Antonyms

broad-mindedness, open-mindedness, reasonability, reasonableness, receptiveness, receptivity; acceptance, acquiescence, flexibility, pliability, pliableness, pliancy, pliantness; compliance, docility, obedience, subordinateness, subordination; submission, surrender, willingness, yielding; slavishness, subservience, subserviency

ob·sti·na·cy

noun \ˈäb-stə-nə-sē\   (Medical Dictionary)

plural ; ob·sti·na·cies

Medical Definition of OBSTINACY

: the quality or state of being obstinate <the obstinacy of tuberculosis>