obstinate

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Pronunciation

• (British) IPA: /ˈɒb.stɪ.nət/, /ˈɒb.stɪ.nɪt/
• (America) enPR: äb'stənət, IPA: /ˈɑb.stə.nət/, /ˈɑb.stə.nɪt/

Adjective

obstinate

1. Stubbornly adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course, usually with implied unreasonableness; persistent.
   • 1686, Montaigne, translated by Charles Cotton, "That men are justly punished for being obstinate in the defence of a fort that is not in reason to be defended",

     From this consideration it is that we have derived the custom, in times of war, to punish […] those who are obstinate to defend a place that by the rules of war is not tenable […]

   • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 21:

     […] the junior Osborne was quite as obstinate as the senior: when he wanted a thing, quite as firm in his resolution to get it; and quite as violent when angered, as his father in his most stern moments

2. Said of inanimate things not easily subdued or removed.
   • 1925-29, Mahadev Desai (translator), Mahatma Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Part IV, Chapter XXIX,

     Now it happened that Kasturbai […] had again begun getting haemorrhage, and the malady seemed to be obstinate.

Synonyms

• (stubbornly adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course) bloody-minded, persistent, stubborn, pertinacious
• (not easily subdued) persistent, unrelenting, inexorable
• See also Thesaurus:obstinate

Translations

• French: obstiné
• German: hartnäckig, starrköpfig
• Italian: ostinato, pertinace
• Portuguese: obstinado, persistente, pertinaz
• Russian: упря́мый
• Spanish: obstinado, obcecado, porfiado

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