# obdurate
## English
### 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: /ˈɒbdʒʊɹɪt/, /ˈɒbdjʊɹɪt/, /ˈɒbdʒəɹɪt/, /-ət/
* (General American) IPA: /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)
* 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: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: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.
* (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.
* 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

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Verb

obdurate (third-person singular simple present obdurates, present participle obdurating, simple past and past participle obdurated)
* (transitive, obsolete) To harden; to obdure.

### References

* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “obdurate”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

### Anagrams

* taboured

## Latin
### Verb

obdūrāte
* second-person plural present active imperative of obdūrō