I. -nə̇t, usu -ə̇d.+V adjective
Etymology: Middle English obstinat, from Latin obstinatus, past participle of obstinare to be set upon, be obstinate, from ob- to, over + -stinare (akin to stare to stand) — more at ob- , stand
1. : pertinaciously adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course : not yielding to reason, arguments, or other means
2. : not yielding readily : not easily subdued or removed
obstinate fever
these obstinate obstructions
Synonyms:
obstinate , dogged , stubborn , pertinacious , mulish , stiff-necked , pigheaded , and bullheaded can mean, in common, fixed or unyielding in one's course, purpose, opinion, and so on. obstinate implies persistent adherence to an opinion, purpose, or course, suggesting unreasonableness or perversity rather than steadfastness
a man so obstinate as to resist the strongest arguments can never be brought to repentance, for he can never be persuaded of his errors — Leslie Stephen
so stupid and so obstinate that it was impossible to get him to do or understand anything — Anthony Trollope
not courageous, only quarrelsome; not determined, only obstinate; not masterful, only domineering — G.B.Shaw
dogged adds the idea of downright or tenacious persistence, usually connoting stolid determination or unwavering purpose
the immense amount of planning, of dogged study; the tireless, constant activity, the ability to get what he was after — Adria Langley
the dull, dogged, unspectacular heroism which was needed for fighting filth and ignorance and disease — Louis Bromfield
dogged hope and resolution for a peaceful union of nations — Laurence Stapleton
stubborn implies the unyielding adherence of obstinate and the stolid determination of dogged , carrying strongly the idea of fixedness of character, in a person, that resists attempts to change his purpose, course, or opinion or, in a thing, that makes it hard to work with or manipulate
the stubborn resistance which he met showed that the temper of the people was not easily broken — J.R.Green
his stubborn refusal to accept the consequences of his own discoveries — J.B.Conant
she was so stubborn that she wouldn't adjust her opinions — Sinclair Lewis
man and beast joined against stubborn nature and her grudging soil — Ann F. Wolfe
pertinacious stresses a sticking to a chosen pursuit, purpose, and so on, with an unusual, often annoying, persistence
a pertinacious newsman
a pertinacious mosquito
mulish suggests the unreasonable obstinacy of a mule
in refusing to accept ardent suitors who were urged upon her, she was obstinately mulish — Fashion Digest
a mulish determination to make the worst of everything — T.S.Eliot
there is a mulish quality about vellum that renders it difficult to cope with — Edith Diehl
stiff-necked , even more than obstinate or stubborn , stresses inflexibility, suggesting a haughtiness or arrogance that will not be directed
stiff-necked in his determination to wage a national campaign rather than a series of local campaigns — Newsweek
the stiff-necked secretaries of Cromwell's army who had been glad to stand in pillories and suffer their ears to be cropped rather than put bread in the mouths of priests — V.W.Brooks
pigheaded and bullheaded , terms of severe reproach, suggest a particularly perverse or stupid kind of obstinacy, pigheaded stressing rather imperviousness to reason, bullheaded stressing rather headstrong determination
too … pigheaded to listen to reason — Dashiell Hammett
a pigheaded refusal to budge from an untenable political position
a bullheaded driving at a private goal no matter who else is hurt along the way
II. -ˌnāt transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English obstinaten, from Latin obstinatus, past participle of obstinare to be obstinate
: to make obstinate