obdurate
Etymology

Mid-15th century, from Latin obduratus, form of obdūrō ("harden"), from ob- ("against") + dūrō ("harden, render hard"), from durus ("hard").

Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈɒbdʒʊɹɪt/, /ˈɒbdjʊɹɪt/, /ˈɒbdʒəɹɪt/, /-ət/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈɑbd(j)ʊɹɪt/, /ˈɑbd(j)əɹɪt/, /-ət/
Adjective

obdurate

  1. Stubbornly persistent, generally in wrongdoing; refusing to reform or repent.
    Synonyms: obdure
    • 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC ↗, (please specify the page):
      […] sometimes the very custom of evil making the heart obdurate against whatsoever instructions to the contrary […]
    • 1594, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC ↗, [verse 34 ↗], lines [199–200]:
      Art thou obdurate, flintie, hard as ſteele? / Nay more then flint, for ſtone at raine relenteth: […]
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC ↗, lines 56–58:
      […] round he throws his baleful eyes
      That witness'd huge affliction and dismay
      Mixt with obdurate pride and stedfast hate:
    • 1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “(please specify the page)”, in The Revolt of Islam; […], London: […] [F]or C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier, […]; by B[uchanan] M‘Millan, […], →OCLC ↗, stanza 9:
      But custom maketh blind and obdurate
      The loftiest hearts.
  2. (obsolete) Physically hardened, toughened.
    • 2012, Stephen King, 11/22/63, page 827:
      The past is obdurate for the same reason a turtle's shell is obdurate: because the living flesh inside is tender and defenseless.
  3. Hardened against feeling; hard-hearted.
    • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 13, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC ↗:
      I fear the gentleman to whom Miss Amelia's letters were addressed was rather an obdurate critic.
Synonyms Related terms Translations Translations Verb

obdurate (obdurates, present participle obdurating; simple past and past participle obdurated)

  1. (transitive, obsolete) To harden; to obdure.



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