Obdurate meaning

ŏb'do͝o-rĭt, -dyo͝o-
The definition of obdurate is stubborn or not easily moved to sympathy.

An example of obdurate is a judge who sentences a man without feeling.

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Not changing in response to argument or other influence; obstinate or intractable.
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Not easily moved to pity or sympathy; hardhearted.
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Hardened and unrepenting; impenitent.
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Not giving in readily; stubborn; obstinate; inflexible.
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Stubbornly persistent, generally in wrongdoing; refusing to reform or repent.
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Origin of obdurate

  • Middle English obdurat from Late Latin obdūrātus past participle of obdūrāre to harden from Latin to be hard, endure ob- intensive pref. ob– dūrus hard deru- in Indo-European roots
    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
  • Mid 15th century, from Latin obduratus (“hardened"), form of obdÅ«rō, from ob- (“against") + dÅ«rō (“harden, render hard"), from durus (“hard"). Compare durable, endure.
    From Wiktionary

Obdurate Sentence Examples

  • At home Kruger continued as obdurate as ever.

  • If Pharaoh still remains obdurate his first-born is threatened (iv.

  • At the end of ten days, should he remain obdurate, the offer of Syria and Acre would be withdrawn; and if at the end of another ten days he was still defiant, the sultan would hold himself at liberty to withdraw the whole offer and to take such measures as his own interests and the counsels of his allies might suggest to him.

  • Even then King William remained obdurate, refused to sign and continued to keep possession of Antwerp. After fruitless efforts on the part of the great powers to obtain his acquiescence, France and Great Britain resolved to have recourse to force.

  • Finding him obdurate, she went on to appeal to the pope; while at Rome she went mad (end of September 1866).

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