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



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Word of the Day

24 January 2025

AGITATION

(noun) a state of agitation or turbulent change or development; “the political ferment produced new leadership”; “social unrest”


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Coffee Trivia

Coffee dates back to the 9th century. Goat herders in Ethiopia noticed their goats seem to be “dancing” after eating berries from a particular shrub. They reported it to the local monastery, and a monk made a drink out of it. The monk found out he felt energized and kept him awake at night. That’s how the first coffee drink was born.

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