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Vinony

obdurate

adjective

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L338835 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈɒbdʒʊɹɪt/ / /ˈɒbdjʊɹɪt/ / /ˈɒbdʒəɹɪt/

adj

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.

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

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

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

  2. Physically hardened, toughened.

    “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.

    “I fear the gentleman to whom Miss Amelia's letters were addressed was rather an obdurate critic.”

verb

Etymology: Borrowed from Latin obdūrātus, see Etymology 1 and -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more

  1. To harden; to obdure.