adj ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective

1. 1
   Characteristic of a mule; stubborn, obstinate, or intractable.

   "[…] a rickety verdigrised geyser which would spit two inches of tepid water into the bath and then mulishly stop working.""

Adjective

1. 1
   unreasonably rigid in the face of argument or entreaty or attack wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

hardheadedadamantineasininebalkingbalkybigoted

Example

More examples

"I tried to convince him to do it, but he was being mulish and refused."

Etymology

From mule + -ish.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.