obdurate
/ˈɑbd(j)ʊɹɪt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.01 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Stubbornly persistent, generally in wrongdoing; refusing to reform or repent.
adj
Example Sentences
- "[…] sometimes the very custom of evil making the heart obdurate against whatsoever instructions to the contrary […]"
- "Art thou obdurate, flintie, hard as ſteele? / Nay more then flint, for ſtone at raine relenteth: […]"
- "[…] round he throws his baleful eyes That witness'd huge affliction and dismay Mixt with obdurate pride and stedfast hate:"
- "But custom maketh blind and obdurate The loftiest hearts."
- "Late the next afternoon Tarzan and his Waziri returned with the first load of “belongings,” and when the party saw the ancient ingots of virgin gold they swarmed upon the ape-man with a thousand questions; but he was smilingly obdurate to their appeals—he declined to give them the slightest clew as to the source of his immense treasure."
- "An injury-time goal from Nikola Zigic against an obdurate Stoke side gave Birmingham back-to back Premier League wins for the first time in 14 months."
Etymology
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.
Origin
- Source language: Middle English
- First known use: First attested in the 1450s
Word Breakdown
- Root: obdurat, obdūrātus
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɑbd(j)ʊɹɪt/
- British English: /ˈɒbdʒʊɹɪt/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more obdurate (comparative)
most obdurate (superlative)
obdurates (present, singular)
obdurating (participle, present)
obdurated (participle, past)
obdurated (past)