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”). 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)

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

   Synonym: (obsolete) obdure

   • 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the page):

     […] sometimes the very custom of evil making the heart obdurate against whatsoever instructions to the contrary […]

   • 1594, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC, [verse 34], lines [199–200]:

     Art thou obdurate, flintie, hard as ſteele? / Nay more then flint, for ſtone at raine relenteth: […]

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, 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[uchanan] M‘Millan, […], →OCLC, stanza 9:

     But custom maketh blind and obdurate
     The loftiest hearts.

   • 2011 February 12, Les Roopanarine, “Birmingham 1 - 0 Stoke”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     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^[2]:

     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.

2. (obsolete) Physically hardened, toughened.
   • 2012, Stephen King, 11/22/63, page 827:

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

3. Hardened against feeling; hard-hearted.
   • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 13, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:

     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)
• Hungarian: megrögzött (hu), megátalkodott (hu)
• 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)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To harden; to obdure.

Anagrams

• taboured

Latin

Verb

obdūrāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of obdūrō