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obstinate
adjective
Did you know?
English has no shortage of words to describe stubbornness, and obstinate is one you might want to latch onto. It suggests an unreasonable persistence and is often used negatively to describe someone who is unwilling to change course or to give up a belief or plan. Animals can be obstinate, too—for instance, say, a beloved pet cat that refuses to get out of your easy chair when you want to sit down. Such an example makes a lot of sense with regard to obstinate’s history, too: the word traces back to a combination of the Latin prefix ob-, meaning “in the way,” and a word related to stare, meaning "to stand." But if you’re adamant about describing Whiskers’ stubborn behavior in more faunal terms, allow us to suggest bullheaded, dogged, or mulish.
Synonyms
- adamant
- adamantine
- bullheaded
- dogged
- hard
- hardened
- hardheaded
- hard-nosed
- headstrong
- immovable
- implacable
- inconvincible
- inflexible
- intransigent
- mulish
- obdurate
- opinionated
- ossified
- pat
- pertinacious
- perverse
- pigheaded
- self-opinionated
- self-willed
- stiff-necked
- stubborn
- unbending
- uncompromising
- unrelenting
- unyielding
- willful
- wilful
obstinate, dogged, stubborn, pertinacious, mulish mean fixed and unyielding in course or purpose.
obstinate implies usually an unreasonable persistence.
dogged suggests an admirable often tenacious and unwavering persistence.
stubborn implies sturdiness in resisting change which may or may not be admirable.
pertinacious suggests an annoying or irksome persistence.
mulish implies a thoroughly unreasonable obstinacy.
Examples of obstinate in a Sentence
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'obstinate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Middle English, from Anglo-French obstinat, Latin obstinatus, past participle of obstinare to be resolved, from ob- in the way + -stinare (akin to stare to stand)
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
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Cite this Entry
“Obstinate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/obstinate. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
Kids Definition
obstinate
adjectiveMedical Definition
obstinate
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