stubborn
Syllables: stub·born/ˈstʌbən//ˈstʌbɚn/
stubborn adjective: refusing to move or to change one's opinion; obstinate; firmly resisting; persistent in doing something. Also the ellipsis of stubborn disease.
Adjective
stubborn (comparative more stubborn, superlative most stubborn)
- Refusing to move or to change one's opinion; obstinate; firmly resisting; persistent in doing something.
- People are pretty stubborn about their political beliefs, so why bother arguing?
- Blood can make a very stubborn stain on fabrics if not washed properly.
- Physically stiff and inflexible; not easily melted or worked.
- Under his hand a stubborn latch sprung noisily […]1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London
Noun
stubborn (uncountable)
- Stubbornness.
- But I have to say that one thing you inherited from your mother is a whole lot of stubborn.2003, Dana Stabenow, A Grave Denied, →ISBN, page 86
- That takes a lot of stubborn for a seventy-something man.2014, Victoria Hamilton, Muffin But Murder, →ISBN
Also used as
stubborn is also the ellipsis of stubborn disease.
stubborn meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
stubborn in Hindi
- refusing to move or change one's opinion
- हठी haṭhī, ज़िद्दी ziddī, अक्खड़ akkhaṛ
stubborn in Tamil
- பிடிவாதமான, பிடிவாதமானவர்
stubborn in Marathi
- जिद्दी, हट्टी, जिद्दीचा
stubborn in Urdu
- refusing to move or change one's opinion
- ہٹھی haṭhī
More languagesFewer languages
- stubborn in Bengali
- জেদি, জেদী
- stubborn in Telugu
- మొండి moṇḍi
- stubborn in Malayalam
- ധാർഷ്ട്യമുള്ളവൻ, ധാർഷ്ട്യമുള്ളവൾ
- stubborn in Kannada
- ಹಠಮಾರಿ
- stubborn in Punjabi
- ਜ਼ਿੱਦੀ
- stubborn in Gujarati
- હઠીલા, હઠીલો
- stubborn in Odia
- ଜିଦ୍ଦୀ
- stubborn in Assamese
- আঁকোৰগোঁজ ãkürgü̃z, গোঁৱাৰ gü̃ar
- stubborn in Nepali
- जिद्दी
- stubborn in Pashto
- خری xəray, ځيلی źilay
- stubborn in Tagalog
- malig-in, matigas ang ulo, maliwaliwa
- stubborn in Arabic
- عَنِيد ʕanīd
- stubborn in Malay
- kepala batu, degil, keras kepala
- stubborn in Indonesian
- kepala batu, bebal, keras kepala
- stubborn in Persian
- کله شق kale šaq, سمج semej, سرتق serteq
- stubborn in Vietnamese
- bướng bỉnh, ngoan cố, lì lợm, lì
Examples of stubborn in a sentence
- John Doe's old age and stubborn aversion to new ideas make him a curmudgeon of a candidate.
- I've had dealings with Jo in the past, and found her very stubborn.
- The accused's stubborn silence outraged the prosecutor.
Synonyms of stubborn
- willful
- headstrong
- wayward
- obstinate
- obdurate
- contrary
- disobedient
- insubordinate
- undisciplined
- adamant
5 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of stubborn
| comparative | more stubborn |
|---|---|
| superlative | most stubborn |
Origin of stubborn
From Middle English stiborne, stibourne, stoburn, stoburne, styburne, stiborn, of uncertain origin; one hypothesis is that it may be from Old English *stybbor, from Old English stybb (“a stump, stub”) + -or (adjective-formation suffix, as in bitor, whence English bitter).
Words formed from stubborn
Phrases with stubborn
Questions about stubborn
- What does stubborn mean?
- Stubborn means refusing to move or to change one's opinion; obstinate; firmly resisting; persistent in doing something.
- What is stubborn in Hindi?
- Stubborn in Hindi is हठी (haṭhī), ज़िद्दी (ziddī), अक्खड़ (akkhaṛ). See Stubborn meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is stubborn?
- Stubborn can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce stubborn?
- Stubborn is pronounced /ˈstʌbɚn/ (US).
Words near stubborn in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: stubborn (page history and authors); stubborn (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); stubborn (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); stubborn (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); stubborn (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); stubborn (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); stubborn (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); stubborn (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); stubborn (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); stubborn (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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-stubborn.ogg, En-uk-stubborn.ogg.
Cite this entry: “stubborn.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/stubborn. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.