obdurate
verbEtymology Borrowed from Latin obdūrātus, see Etymology 1 and -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more
1
Obsolete To harden; to obdure.
obdurate
adjUK /ˈɒbdʒʊɹɪt/ · US /ˈɑbd(j)ʊɹɪt/
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.
1
Stubbornly persistent, generally in wrongdoing; refusing to reform or repent.
- […] sometimes the very custom of evil making the heart obdurate against whatsoever instructions to the contrary […][1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page):
- Art thou obdurate, flintie, hard as ſteele? / Nay more then flint, for ſtone at raine relenteth: […]1594, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC, [verse 34], lines [199–200]:
4 more examples
- […] round he throws his baleful eyes That witness'd huge affliction and dismay Mixt with obdurate pride and stedfast hate:1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 56–58:
- But custom maketh blind and obdurate The loftiest hearts.1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “(please specify the page)”, in The Revolt of Islam; […], London: […] [F]or C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier, […]; by B[uchanan] M‘Millan, […], →OCLC, stanza 9:
- 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.1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 220:
- 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.2011 February 12, Les Roopanarine, “Birmingham 1 - 0 Stoke”, in BBC:
2
Obsolete Physically hardened, toughened.
- The past is obdurate for the same reason a turtle's shell is obdurate: because the living flesh inside is tender and defenseless.2011, Stephen King, 11/22/63, New York: Scribner, →ISBN, page 827:
3
Hardened against feeling; hard-hearted.
- I fear the gentleman to whom Miss Amelia's letters were addressed was rather an obdurate critic.1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 13, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
- Derived terms
- obduracy, obdurately, obdurateness, unobdurate