adamantine

Syllables: ada·mant·ineUK/ˌædəˈmæntaɪn//ˌædəˈmænˌtaɪn/

adamantine adjective: made of adamant (“an unspecified mineral or rock of virtually impenetrable hardness”).

Adjective

adamantine (comparative more adamantine, superlative most adamantine)

Made of adamant (“an unspecified mineral or rock of virtually impenetrable hardness”).
- [A]t laſt appeer / Hell bounds high reaching to the horrid Roof, / And thrice threefold the Gates; three folds vvere Braſs, / Three iron, three of Adamantine Rock, / Impenitrable, impal'd vvith circling fire, / Yet unconsum'd.1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC, signature...
(figuratively) Incapable of being broken, dissolved, or penetrated; impenetrable, unbreakable.
- adamantine bonds adamantine chains
- Vnleſſe the Deſtin's adamantine band / Should tye my teeth, I cannot chuſe but bite, […]1599, W. Kinsayder or Theriomastix [pseudonyms; John Marston], “Inamorato Curio”, in The Scourge of Villanie. […], London: […] I[ames] R[oberts], →OCLC; republished as G[eorge] B[agshawe] Harrison...
Synonyms:

immovable, impregnable, indomitable, inextinguishable, inexpugnable, insuperable, insuppressible, insurmountable, invincible, inviolate
(figuratively) Difficult to defeat or prevail over; unshakable, unyielding.
- For two hours they stand; [François Claude Amour, marquis de] Bouillé's sword glittering in his hand, adamantine resolution clouding his brows; […]1837, Thomas Carlyle, “Bouille at Metz”, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume II (The Constitution), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, book II (Nanci), page 81
- He [William III of England] was proved by every test; […] by the imminent and constant risk of assassination, a risk which has shaken very strong nerves, a risk which severely tried even the adamantine fortitude of [Oliver] Cromwell.1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter VII, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume II, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 167
(figuratively) Of a person: refusing to change one's mind; obstinate, stubborn.
- I thought this last information would soften the young man, but he was adamantine. He informed me that it was against all bank rules for a woman to draw from her husband's deposit without his order.1871 March, J[ane] L[ippit] Patterson, “My Lost Banker; a Story in Three Chapters. [Chapter] III.”, in The Ladies’ Repository: A Universalist Monthly Magazine for the Home Circle, volume XLV, Boston...
Synonyms:

intractable, obdurate, adamant, ardent, grim, untiring, bent on, bloody-minded, bullheaded, certain
(figuratively, obsolete) Having the quality of attracting or drawing; attractive, magnetic.
- Embravvne your ſoft-skind encloſure vvith Adamantine duſt, that it may dravve nothing but ſteele vnto it.1593, Tho[mas] Nashe, Christs Teares Over Ierusalem. […], London: […] Iames Roberts, and are to be solde by Andrewe Wise, […], →OCLC, folio 34, recto
- All mens eyes vvere preſently turnd to the North, ſtanding euen ſtone-ſtill in their Circles, like the poynts of ſo many Geometricall needles, through a fixed & Adamantine deſire to behold this 45. yeares vvonder novv brought forth by Tyme: […]1604, Tho[mas] Dekker, “A Device (Proiected Downe, but till Now Not Publisht,) that should have Serued at His Maiesties First Accesse to the Citie”, in The Magnificent Entertainment: Giuen to King...
Like diamond in lustre; bright, lustrous, shiny; also, of a lustre: like that of a mineral with a high refractive index such as diamond.
- Raspite, a new dimorphous form of lead tungstate, is found on some of the stolzite specimens as brownish or yellow monoclinic crystals with a strong adamantine lustre.1898 June, “Abstracts”, in H[enry] A[lexander] Miers, editor, The Mineralogical Magazine and Journal of the Mineralogical Society, volume XII, number 54, London: W[illia]m Dawson & Sons with the...

Noun

adamantine (uncountable)

(also, attributive) Synonym of adamantium (“a fictional metal which is indestructible or nearly so”).

Synonyms:

adamantium

adamantine meaning in Tamil and Sanskrit

adamantine in Tamil

விட்டுக்கொடாத, வைரத்தைப் போன்ற, வைரத்தாலான, உடைக்க முடியாத, துளைத்தலாகாத, வளையாத

adamantine in Sanskrit

adamantine, hard, impenetrable: वज्र vájra

Examples of adamantine in a sentence

Hovv impetrable hee vvas in mollyfying the adamantineſt tiranny of mankinde, […]1599, [Thomas] Nashe, Nashes Lenten Stuffe, […], London: […] [Thomas Judson and Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and C[uthbert]...
[T]o a vviſe man there can happen no iniury or offence at all, to moleſt the felicity of his minde, vvhich (in the Stoicks opinion) ought to bee imperturbable, and his heart adamantine.1605, Giacomo Affinati d’Acuto Romano, chapter 23, in A[nthony] M[unday], transl., The Dumbe Divine Speaker, or: Dumbe Speaker of Diuinity....
Oh ſay vvhat Heroes, fir’d by Thirſt of Fame, / Or urg’d by VVrongs, to Troy’s Deſtruction came? / To count them all, demands a thouſand Tongues, / A Throat of Braſs, and Adamantine Lungs.1715, Homer, “Book II”, in Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […]...
Leviathan is not ſo tamed. / Laugh'd at, he laughs again; and ſtricken hard, / Turns to ſtroke his adamantine ſcales, / That fear no diſcipline of human hands.1785, William Cowper, “Book II. The Time-piece.”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC, page 62:

Synonyms of adamantine

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of adamantine

Forms of adamantine

comparative	more adamantine
superlative	most adamantine

Origin of adamantine

From Middle English adamantine, adamantyne, adamauntyn (“(adjective) of adamant; (noun) adamant”), from Anglo-Norman adamantin and Middle French adamantin (“of or resembling adamant or diamond”) (modern French adamantin), and from its etymon Latin adamantinus (“adamantine”), from Ancient Greek ἀδᾰμάντῐνος (adămántĭnos, “hard as adamant; made of steel”), from ᾰ̓δᾰμᾰντ- (ădămănt-) (a stem of ἀδάμᾱς (adámās, “the hardest metal (probably steel); diamond”), possibly originally Semitic) + -ῐνος (-ĭnos, suffix meaning ‘made of’ forming adjectives). By surface analysis, adamant + -ine (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Etymology 1, adjective sense 1.2.4 (“having the quality of attracting or drawing”) and etymology 1, adjective sense 2 (“like diamond in lustre; etc.”) refer to adamant (“(archaic) lodestone; (historical, poetic) diamond”).

Possibly from adamantium + -ine (suffix forming the names of chemical substances or materials).

Words formed from adamantine

Questions about adamantine

What does adamantine mean?: Adamantine means made of adamant (“an unspecified mineral or rock of virtually impenetrable hardness”).
What is adamantine in Tamil?: Adamantine in Tamil is விட்டுக்கொடாத, வைரத்தைப் போன்ற, வைரத்தாலான. See Adamantine meaning in Tamil.
How do you use adamantine in a sentence?: Hovv impetrable hee vvas in mollyfying the adamantineſt tiranny of mankinde, […]
What part of speech is adamantine?: Adamantine can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce adamantine?: Adamantine is pronounced /ˌædəˈmæntaɪn/ (UK).

Words near adamantine in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: adamantine (page history and authors); adamantine (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); वज्र (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Sapaa-adamantine.wav.

Cite this entry: “adamantine.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/adamantine. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.