Definition of INTRANSIGENT

Did You Know?

English speakers borrowed "intransigent" in the 19th century from Spanish intransigente ("uncompromising"), itself a combination of the familiar prefix in- ("not") and "transigente" ("willing to compromise"). "Transigente" comes from the Spanish verb transigir ("to compromise"), which in turn comes from Latin transigere ("to come to an agreement"). The French have a similar verb, "transiger," which also means "to compromise." You may wonder if the word transigent exists in English, and the answer is "not really." It has seen occasional use, but it is not well established. There is, however, one other common English word that traces from Latin transigere: transact, meaning "to conduct (business)."

Examples of intransigent in a Sentence

He has remained intransigent in his opposition to the proposal. he has remained intransigent, refusing all suggestions for improvement of the process

Recent Examples on the Web

Similarly repetitive and ridiculous are the many scenes of heroic scientists confronting intransigent bureaucrats by explicitly criticizing the Soviet system of decision-making. — Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, "What HBO’s “Chernobyl” Got Right, and What It Got Terribly Wrong," 4 June 2019 At a stroke, anyone advocating actually leaving the European Union—hitherto known as a Leave voter—was an intransigent kook from the reactionary fringe. — Lionel Shriver, Harper's magazine, "No Exit," 10 Apr. 2019 The parable of Mr Tsipras’s eventual capitulation—his radical government brought to heel by capital markets and an intransigent European Union—is seeping into the left’s consciousness. — The Economist, "Why Labour is obsessed with Greek politics," 28 June 2018 Kim destroyed a nuclear test site hours before Trump canceled the meeting, allowing it to paint the United States as the intransigent party with constituencies that matter to Pyongyang: Beijing and Moscow. — Sean Illing, Vox, "Trump just canceled the North Korea summit. 9 experts explain what happens now.," 24 May 2018 Others argue that hearts and minds would have proved more intransigent without their pyrotechnics. — The Economist, "What modern campaigners can learn from the fight for women’s suffrage," 19 Apr. 2018 Nasheed was eventually vindicated in the fight against climate change, with once intransigent polluters like India having recently made ambitious commitments to renewable energy. — Shashank Bengali, latimes.com, "He brought world attention to his sinking island nation. Now he wonders if he can go back," 17 Apr. 2018 Growing instability across Congo comes against the backdrop of an increasingly intransigent president. — Max Bearak, Washington Post, "Caught in Congo’s tides of war," 6 Apr. 2018 Germany has been particularly intransigent on this issue, as well as on Washington’s call for Europe to designate Hezbollah’s military and political wings as a terrorist organization—a longstanding and bipartisan American request. — Mark Dubowitz, WSJ, "Europe Will Now Decide if the Iran Deal Survives," 1 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'intransigent.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.