Synonyms of obdurate

obdurate

adjective

ˈäb-də-rət 

1

as in ruthless

having or showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings

the obdurate refusal of the crotchety old man to let the neighborhood kids retrieve their stray ball from his backyard

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ruthless
• merciless
• stony
• hard
• pitiless
• oppressive
• hard-hearted
• callous
• unsympathetic
• remorseless
• unmerciful
• abusive
• harsh
• heartless
• cruel
• unfeeling
• compassionless
• insensate
• inhuman
• indurate
• malicious
• tough
• brutal
• stern
• insensitive
• hateful
• case-hardened
• soulless
• thick-skinned
• uncharitable
• inhumane
• stoney
• vicious
• affectless
• unsparing
• grim
• take-no-prisoners
• pachydermatous
• cold-blooded
• severe
• hard-boiled
• savage
• slash-and-burn
• desensitized
• ironhearted
• boorish
• unfriendly
• thoughtless
• uncaring
• heedless
• stonyhearted
• ungentle
• unthinking
• inconsiderate
• mean
• disagreeable
• spiteful
• rough
• malevolent
• virulent
• surly
• unloving
• acrimonious
• ill-tempered
• brutish
• cold
• ill-natured
• barbarous
• heavy-handed
• ironfisted
• hard-bitten
• rough-and-tumble
• jackbooted
• rancorous
• bestial
• ironhanded
• sledgehammer
• austere
• evil-minded
• frosty
• knock-down-and-drag-out
• knock-down, drag-out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sympathetic
• warm
• sensitive
• merciful
• charitable
• compassionate
• humane
• kindly
• gentle
• benevolent
• kind
• mild
• tender
• lenient
• gracious
• softhearted
• kindhearted
• friendly
• indulgent
• benignant
• cordial
• warmhearted
• tenderhearted
• tolerant
• affectionate
• loving
• understanding
• good-natured
• clement
• fond
• good-tempered

2

as in stubborn

sticking to an opinion, purpose, or course of action in spite of reason, arguments, or persuasion

an obdurate farmer who could never be convinced to try a different method of fertilization

Synonyms & Similar Words

• stubborn
• adamant
• steadfast
• hardened
• obstinate
• intransigent
• implacable
• wilful
• unbending
• unyielding
• mulish
• immovable
• pertinacious
• unrelenting
• adamantine
• inflexible
• uncompromising
• bullheaded
• willful
• hardheaded
• obsessive
• ossified
• headstrong
• dogged
• opinionated
• pigheaded
• persistent
• hard
• perverse
• pat
• determined
• stiff-necked
• hard-nosed
• strict
• self-willed
• relentless
• self-opinionated
• iron
• inconvincible
• tenacious
• inexorable
• rigid
• deaf to reason
• defiant
• stern
• unflinching
• wayward
• wrongheaded
• resolved
• severe
• recalcitrant
• cantankerous
• uncooperative
• contumacious
• intractable
• hidebound
• hard-line
• refractory
• firm
• narrow-minded
• single-minded
• indomitable
• mutinous
• disobedient
• unmanageable
• contrary
• bloody-minded
• unconquerable
• insubordinate
• invincible
• unruly
• anal-retentive
• hard-shell
• inveterate
• ungovernable
• stouthearted
• hard-shelled
• insurgent
• cussed
• hell-bent
• unregenerate
• froward
• exacting
• confirmed
• demanding
• set

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• agreeable
• pliant
• acquiescent
• amenable
• pliable
• flexible
• compliant
• complying
• docile
• obedient
• yielding
• tractable
• submissive
• receptive
• responsive
• willing
• accepting
• relenting
• reasonable
• placable
• manageable
• temperate
• persuadable
• subservient
• slavish
• governable

Synonym Chooser

How is the word obdurate different from other adjectives like it?

The words adamant and inflexible are common synonyms of obdurate. While all three words mean "unwilling to alter a predetermined course or purpose," obdurate stresses hardness of heart and insensitivity to appeals for mercy or the influence of divine grace.

obdurate in his refusal to grant clemency

When can adamant be used instead of obdurate?

The words adamant and obdurate can be used in similar contexts, but adamant implies utter immovability in the face of all temptation or entreaty.

adamant that the work should continue

Where would inflexible be a reasonable alternative to obdurate?

While the synonyms inflexible and obdurate are close in meaning, inflexible implies rigid adherence or even slavish conformity to principle.

inflexible in their demands

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of obdurate

Advertisement None of that has immunized the lowly smelt from its most obdurate enemy: partisan folly. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2025

Nevertheless, Biden’s obdurate unwillingness to step aside for younger, more plausible Democratic candidates resulted in the reëmergence of his nemesis. —David Remnick, The New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2025

Up the long hill and around a bend that almost touches itself White Chimneys comes into view, as harsh and obdurate as ever. —Annie Proulx, The New Yorker, 30 June 2024

Over the next several hundred million years, terrestrial plants of all kinds profoundly altered the planet, accelerating the water cycle, turning obdurate crust into supple soil—and pushing the level of atmospheric oxygen to new heights. —Ferris Jabr, The Atlantic, 25 June 2024

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