obdurate
AdjectiveOpen English WordNet
Adjective (2)
- stubbornly persistent in wrongdoingSynonyms: cussedobstinateunrepentantOpposite regenerateSimilar unregenerate, unregenerated
- showing unfeeling resistance to tender feelings“his flinty gaze”“the child's misery would move even the most obdurate heart”Synonyms: flintyflintgraniticstonyOpposite soft-boiledSimilar hardhearted, heartless
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: 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.— Richard Hooker
Art thou obdurate, flinty, hard as steel, Nay, more than flint, for stone at rain relenteth?— William Shakespeare
2. Hard; harsh; rugged; rough; intractable. “Obdurate consonants.” Jonathan Swift
☞ Sometimes accented on the second syllable, especially by the older poets.
There is no flesh in man's obdurate heart.— William Cowper
Synonyms: 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′wb-a1′>′du·rate·ly (#), adverb — Ob′wb-a1′>′du·rate·ness, noun
To harden. obsolete
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54