OBDURATE
flinty, flint, granitic, obdurate, stony
(adjective) showing unfeeling resistance to tender feelings; “his flinty gaze”; “the child’s misery would move even the most obdurate heart”
cussed, obdurate, obstinate, unrepentant
(adjective) stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Adjective
obdurate (comparative more obdurate, superlative most obdurate)
Stubbornly persistent, generally in wrongdoing; refusing to reform or repent.
(obsolete) Physically hardened, toughened.
Hardened against feeling; hard-hearted.
Synonyms
• (stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing): hardened, hard-hearted, impertinent, intractable, unrepentant, unyielding, recalcitrant
Verb
obdurate (third-person singular simple present obdurates, present participle obdurating, simple past and past participle obdurated)
(transitive, obsolete) To harden; to obdure.
Anagrams
• taboured
Source: Wiktionary
Ob"du*rate, a. Etym: [L. obduratus, p. p. of obdurare to harden; ob
(see Ob-)+ durare to harden, durus hard. See Dure.]
1. Hardened in feelings, esp. against moral or mollifying influences;
unyielding; hard-hearted; stubbornly wicked.
The very custom of evil makes the heart obdurate against whatsoever
instructions to the contrary. Hooker.
Art thou obdurate, flinty, hard as steel, Nay, more than flint, for
stone at rain relenteth Shak.
2. Hard; harsh; rugged; rough; intractable. "Obdurate consonants."
Swift.
Note: Sometimes accented on the second syllable, especially by the
older poets.
There is no flesh in man's obdurate heart. Cowper.
Syn.
– Hard; firm; unbending; inflexible; unyielding; stubborn;
obstinate; impenitent; callous; unfeeling; insensible; unsusceptible.
– Obdurate, Callous, Hardened. Callous denotes a deadening of the
sensibilities; as. a callous conscience. Hardened implies a general
and settled disregard for the claims of interest, duty, and sympathy;
as, hardened in vice. Obdurate implies an active resistance of the
heart and will aganst the pleadings of compassion and humanity.
– Ob"du*rate*ly, adv.
– Ob"du*rate*ness, n.
Ob"du*rate, v. t.
Definition: To harden. [Obs.]
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition