obdurate
UK/ˈɒbdʒʊɹɪt//ˈɑbd(j)ʊɹɪt/
obdurate adjective: stubbornly persistent, generally in wrongdoing; refusing to reform or repent.
Adjective
obdurate (comparative more obdurate, superlative most obdurate)
- Stubbornly persistent, generally in wrongdoing; refusing to reform or repent.
- […] sometimes the very custom of evil making the heart obdurate against whatsoever instructions to the contrary […][1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page)
- Art thou obdurate, flintie, hard as ſteele? / Nay more then flint, for ſtone at raine relenteth: […]1594, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC, [verse 34], lines [199–200]
- Synonyms:
- hardened, hard-hearted, impertinent, intractable, unrepentant, unyielding, recalcitrant, headstrong, obdure
- Physically hardened, toughened.
- The past is obdurate for the same reason a turtle's shell is obdurate: because the living flesh inside is tender and defenseless.2011, Stephen King, 11/22/63, New York: Scribner, →ISBN, page 827
- Hardened against feeling; hard-hearted.
- I fear the gentleman to whom Miss Amelia's letters were addressed was rather an obdurate critic.1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 13, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC
Verb
obdurate (third-person singular simple present obdurates, present participle obdurating, simple past and past participle obdurated)
obdurate meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
obdurate in Tamil
- கல் நெஞ்சுள்ள, முரண்பாடான, விடாப்பிடியான
obdurate in Urdu
- ڈھیٹ, ہٹ دھرم, کڑا, سخت دل, ضدی
obdurate in Bengali
- একগুঁয়ে ও অনমনীয়, মত পরিবর্তনে অনিচ্ছুক
obdurate in Malayalam
- കഠിനചിത്തനായ, വിട്ടുകൊടുക്കാത്ത, ദുശ്ശാഠ്യമുളള, മർക്കടമുഷ്ടിയുള്ള, പശ്ചാത്താപമില്ലാത്ത
More languagesFewer languages
- obdurate in Kannada
- ಜಗ್ಗದ, ಮೊಂಡುಬಿದ್ದ, ಹಠಮಾರಿತನದ, ದೃಢ
- obdurate in Sinhala
- මුරණ්ඩු muraṇḍu
Synonyms of obdurate
Forms of obdurate
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more obdurate |
| superlative | most obdurate |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | obdurates |
| present participle | obdurating |
| past participle | obdurated |
| past | obdurated |
Origin of obdurate
First attested in the 1450s, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English obdurat(e), borrowed from Latin obdūrātus (“hardened”), perfect passive participle of obdūrō (“to harden”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ob- (“against”) + dūrō (“to harden, render hard”), from dūrus (“hard”). Compare durable, endure.
Borrowed from Latin obdūrātus, see Etymology 1 and -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more
Words formed from obdurate
Questions about obdurate
- What does obdurate mean?
- Obdurate means stubbornly persistent, generally in wrongdoing; refusing to reform or repent.
- What is obdurate in Tamil?
- Obdurate in Tamil is கல் நெஞ்சுள்ள, முரண்பாடான, விடாப்பிடியான. See Obdurate meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is obdurate?
- Obdurate can be an adjective or a verb.
- How do you pronounce obdurate?
- Obdurate is pronounced /ˈɒbdʒʊɹɪt/ (UK).
Words near obdurate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: obdurate (page history and authors); obdurate (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); obdurate (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); obdurate (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); obdurate (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); obdurate (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); මුරණ්ඩු (Sinhala) (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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-obdurate.ogg.
Cite this entry: “obdurate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/obdurate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.