Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Obstinate

Ob′sti-nate

,
Adj.
[L.
obstinatus
, p. p. of
obstinare
to set about a thing with firmness, to persist in;
ob
(see
Ob-
) + a word from the root of
stare
to stand. See
Stand
, and cf.
Destine
.]
1.
Pertinaciously adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course; persistent; not yielding to reason, arguments, or other means; stubborn; pertinacious; – usually implying unreasonableness.
I have known great cures done by
obstinate
resolution of drinking no wine.
Sir W. Temple.
No ass so meek, no ass so
obstinate
.
Pope.
Of sense and outward things.
Wordsworth.
2.
Not yielding; not easily subdued or removed;
as,
obstinate
fever;
obstinate
obstructions.
Syn. – Stubborn; inflexible; immovable; firm; pertinacious; persistent; headstrong; opinionated; unyielding; refractory; contumacious. See
Stubborn
.
Ob′sti-nate-ly
,
adv.
Ob′sti-nate-ness
,
Noun.

Webster 1828 Edition


Obstinate

OB'STINATE

,
Adj.
[L. obstinatus.]
1.
Stubborn; pertinaciously adhering to an opinion or purpose; fixed firmly in resolution; not yielding to reason, arguments or other means.
I have known great cures done by obstinate resolutions of drinking no wine.
No ass so meek, no ass os obstinate.
2.
Not yielding or not easily subdued or removed; as an obstinate fever; obstinate obstructions; an obstinate cough.

Definition 2024


obstinate

obstinate

English

Adjective

obstinate (comparative more obstinate, superlative most obstinate)

  1. Stubbornly adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course, usually with implied unreasonableness; persistent.
    • 1686, Montaigne, translated by Charles Cotton, "That men are justly punished for being obstinate in the defence of a fort that is not in reason to be defended",
      From this consideration it is that we have derived the custom, in times of war, to punish [] those who are obstinate to defend a place that by the rules of war is not tenable []
  2. Said of inanimate things not easily subdued or removed.
    • 1927, Gandhi, translated by Mahadev Desai, An Autobiography or The Story of my Experiments with Truth, Part IV, Chapter XXIX,
      Now it happened that Kasturbai [] had again begun getting haemorrhage, and the malady seemed to be obstinate.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations


Latin

Adjective

obstināte

  1. vocative masculine singular of obstinātus

References