intransigent
adjective
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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
Byjane Thier, Fortune, 31 Aug. 2023
But cutting a deal then would have spared Biden having to negotiate later with intransigent House Republicans.
—Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 3 Aug. 2023
To be sure, the Palestinians have historically been crippled by their own intransigent leadership.
—Eric Cortellessa, Time, 18 July 2023
His administration has famously made an example of intransigent Huntington Beach, suing the Orange County city for violating state housing laws.
—Erika D. Smith, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2023
That moment of sharp relief, a clash with an intransigent foreign apparatchik by a young American president feeling his own way, comes to life in released on Wednesday.
—Peter Baker, New York Times, 31 May 2023
Weinberger, an architect of the military buildup and strategy of confrontation during Reagan’s first term, remained intransigent and distrustful of the Kremlin.
—David E. Hoffman, Washington Post, 11 Jan. 2023
Meanwhile, owners Bob and Jonathan Kraft felt a need to apologize to fans and are engaging in awkward conversations with an intransigent coach/legend who has surrounded himself with family and friends instead of the best football minds.
—Dan Shaughnessy, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Jan. 2023
The ruling came the day after an Ohio federal judge’s decision in a similar case, where intransigent Ohio election officials were ordered to allow multiple remote drop-off locations for voters wanting to hand-deliver their mail ballots to avoid postal delays.
—Bloomberg.com, 10 Oct. 2020
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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.
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Cite this Entry
“Intransigent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intransigent. Accessed 26 Sep. 2023.
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