Obdurate

//ˈɒbdʒʊɹɪt// adj, verb

adj, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To harden; to obdure. obsolete, transitive
Adjective
  1. 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 […]"

  2. 2
    Physically hardened, toughened. obsolete

    "The past is obdurate for the same reason a turtle's shell is obdurate: because the living flesh inside is tender and defenseless."

  3. 3
    Hardened against feeling; hard-hearted.

    "I fear the gentleman to whom Miss Amelia's letters were addressed was rather an obdurate critic."

Adjective
  1. 1
    showing unfeeling resistance to tender feelings wordnet
  2. 2
    stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
graniticobstinatestubbornunrepentantabandonedabandoned

Example

More examples

"I tried everything I could think of to convince them to stop ruining their life, but they remained obdurate to the very end."

Etymology

Etymology 1

First attested in the 1450's, 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.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin obdūrātus, see Etymology 1 and -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more

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