Word of the Day 6.9.9
obdurate
ob·du·rate (
b
d
-r
t, -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 obd
r
tus, 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.
| Adj. | 1. | obdurate – stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
unregenerated, unregenerate – not reformed morally or spiritually; “unregenerate human nature”; “unregenerate conservatism”
|
| 2. | obdurate – showing unfeeling resistance to tender feelings; “his flinty gaze”; “the child’s misery would move even the most obdurate heart”
hardhearted, heartless – lacking in feeling or pity or warmth
|