obdurate

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. adjective stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
  2. adjective showing unfeeling resistance to tender feelings

Etymology

First attested in the 1450s, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English obdurat(e), borrowed from Latin obdūrātus (“hardened”), perfect passive participle of obdūrō (“to harden”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ob- (“against”) + dūrō (“to harden, render hard”), from dūrus (“hard”). Compare durable, endure.

In classic literature

Synonyms

cussed, obstinate, unrepentant

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