Definition of obdurate in English:

adjective

• Stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion or course of action.

  ‘I argued this point with him, but he was obdurate’

  More example sentences

  • ‘I perhaps sound like an obdurate woman lacking the maternal instincts worthy of such a precious gift as a child but nothing could be further from the truth.’
  • ‘No one but the most obdurate can fail to acknowledge that the main political problem that has convulsed this beautiful State is still a long way from being resolved.’
  • ‘That will be grist to McGeechan's mill after an afternoon in which his side struggled to wear down obdurate but limited opponents.’
  • ‘But for all his reputation as a pragmatist, there's a steely and obdurate side to him that comes to the surface every so often.’
  • ‘As decreed by what was called the Holy Office at that time, the dwellers in Hell included those it had condemned for obdurate heresy.’
  • ‘Those fields didn't miraculously appear there - they were lovingly hewn from the obdurate landscape by men like Willie Corduff and his ancestors.’
  • ‘But I think it saddened him to see people obdurate, unwilling to let go of doctrinaire positions instead of facing issues on their merits.’
  • ‘But with Liverpool likely to field a weakened team to face an obdurate Burnley side buoyed by back-to-back wins and clean sheets, it may not be such a foregone conclusion.’
  • ‘One Cape Town newspaper headline screamed: ‘Just say yes, Mr President’ but Mbeki remained obdurate.’
  • ‘Over the next few weeks, Rosemary discovered that several other people had planned to open small shops in Camembert, only to give up after encountering obdurate bureaucracy.’
  • ‘The husband looked up from poking the washing machine with his screwdriver to suggest I was being obdurate.’
  • ‘In favouring the obdurate option, United cramped Celtic for room and impressively limited their effectiveness.’
  • ‘His image as an obdurate hardman culminated in the notorious case where he bit reporter Frank Oliver's nose.’
  • ‘There is no doubting their commitment, however, and they will continue to offer obdurate opposition for the rest of the challengers.’
  • ‘Two minutes into second half the visitors' obdurate defence finally cracked, for the first time in 280 minutes.’
  • ‘The Egyptian polity, remarkably obdurate for the past quarter of a century and deeply rooted in authoritarian structures established more than 50 years ago, is apparently coming apart at the seams.’
  • ‘Its best to get in reasonably early as it can be fiendishly difficult to get into, and the doorstaff can be unyielding and obdurate, despite your silver-tongued attempts to gain access.’
  • ‘Meanwhile, time alone probably will not have unevolved the obdurate and ancient instinct that all humans bear.’
  • ‘This was Australia at their obdurate best, probing for every run and every sign of weakness, inching towards respectability and a dangerously competitive total on a pitch of uneven bounce.’
  • ‘They are, after all, award-winning teachers, however obdurate a pupil the federal government is proving.’

  Synonyms

  obstinate, stubborn as a mule, mulish, headstrong, wilful, strong-willed, self-willed, pig-headed, bull-headed, awkward, difficult, contrary, perverse, recalcitrant, refractory

  View synonyms