Word of the Day 7.11.08

ob·du·rate (bd-rt, -dy-)

adj.

1.

a. Hardened in wrongdoing or wickedness; stubbornly impenitent: “obdurate conscience of the old sinner” Sir Walter Scott.

b. Hardened against feeling; hardhearted: an obdurate miser.

2. Not giving in to persuasion; intractable. See Synonyms at inflexible.


[Middle English obdurat, from Late Latin obdrtus, past participle of obdrre, to harden, from Latin, to be hard, endure : ob-, intensive pref.; see ob- + drus, hard; see deru- in Indo-European roots.]


obdu·rate·ly adv.

obdu·rate·ness n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Posted on July 11, 2008 by admin

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