obdurate

English

WOTD – 27 August 2007

Etymology

Mid-15th century, from Latin obduratus (“hardened”), form of obdūrō (“harden”), from ob- (“against”) + dūrō (“harden, render hard”), from durus (“hard”).[1] Compare durable, endure.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɒbdʒʊɹɪt/, /ˈɒbdjʊɹɪt/, /ˈɒbdʒəɹɪt/, /-ət/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɑbd(j)ʊɹɪt/, /ˈɑbd(j)əɹɪt/, /-ət/
Audio (US) (file)
Sometimes accented on the second syllable, especially by the older poets.

Adjective

obdurate (comparative more obdurate, superlative most obdurate)

Stubbornly persistent, generally in wrongdoing; refusing to reform or repent.
Synonym: (obsolete) obdure
- 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, J[ohn] S[penser], editor, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, OCLC 931154958, (please specify the page):
  […] sometimes the very custom of evil making the heart obdurate against whatsoever instructions to the contrary […]
- c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene iv]:
  Art thou obdurate, flinty, hard as steel,
  Nay, more than flint, for stone at rain relenteth?
- 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554, lines 56–58:
  […] round he throws his baleful eyes
  That witness'd huge affliction and dismay
  Mixt with obdurate pride and stedfast hate:
- 1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “(please specify the page)”, in The Revolt of Islam; […], London: […] [F]or C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier, […]; by B. M‘Millan, […], OCLC 1142934411, stanza 9:
  But custom maketh blind and obdurate
  The loftiest hearts.
- 2011 February 12, Les Roopanarine, “Birmingham 1 - 0 Stoke”, in BBC‎:
  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.
- 2017 September 7, Ferdinand Mount, “Umbrageousness”, in London Review of Books‎:
  What Tharoor dismisses as mere ‘positive by-products’ Lalvani sees as central to the India the British left behind: the botanic gardens, the forest conservancies, the Archaeological Survey of India (brainchild of the otherwise obdurate Curzon) and the free press.
(obsolete) Physically hardened, toughened.
- 2012, Stephen King, 11/22/63, p. 827:
  The past is obdurate for the same reason a turtle's shell is obdurate: because the living flesh inside is tender and defenseless.
Hardened against feeling; hard-hearted.
- 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 13, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, OCLC 3174108:
  I fear the gentleman to whom Miss Amelia's letters were addressed was rather an obdurate critic.

Synonyms

(stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing): hardened, hard-hearted, impertinent, intractable, unrepentant, unyielding, recalcitrant

Derived terms

obduracy

Related terms

durable, duration
endure, endurance, enduring

Translations

Stubbornly persistent, generally in wrongdoing; refusing to reform or repent

Breton: pennek (br)
Bulgarian: закоравял (bg) (zakoravjal)
Danish: hårdnakket
Dutch: koppig (nl), weerbarstig (nl), hardleers (nl), onverzettelijk (nl)
French: opiniâtre (fr) m or f, têtu (fr) m
German: stur (de), hartnäckig (de)
Greek: άκαμπτος (el) m (ákamptos), πωρωμένος (el) m (poroménos), σκληρόκαρδος (el) m (sklirókardos)
Irish: aindiúideach, dáigh, dígeanta, ceanndána, dolúbtha, righin, docht
Maori: hōkeke, taringa pākura, houkeke, kakī mārō, upoko mārō, taumārō
Norwegian:
Bokmål: hardnakket
Plautdietsch: baulstierich
Russian: упря́мый (ru) (uprjámyj)
Swedish: hårdnackat (sv)

Physically hardened, toughened

Bulgarian: закален (bg) (zakalen)
Dutch: keihard (nl)
French: dur comme un roc
German: hart (de)
Russian: закалённый (ru) (zakaljónnyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Verb

obdurate (third-person singular simple present obdurates, present participle obdurating, simple past and past participle obdurated)

(transitive, obsolete) To harden; to obdure.

References

Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “obdurate”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

taboured

Latin

Verb

obdūrāte

second-person plural present active imperative of obdūrō

[1] Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “obdurate”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.