stubborn

Formsstubborner, stubbornest

1. 1
   unwilling to yieldadjective

   Refusing to move or change one's opinion; obstinately resisting persuasion and persisting in a chosen course of action.

   The negotiator grew stubborn the moment he sensed he was being pressured.

   Their stubborn refusal to compromise dragged the dispute on for years.

   UsageOften too stubborn to + verb, or stubborn about something: too stubborn to admit he was wrong.

   Similarobstinate, inflexible, intransigent, pigheaded, headstrong

   Oppositeflexible, compliant, amenable, accommodating

2. 2
   the trait itselfnouncolloquialuncountable

   The trait of being unwilling to change one's mind or give way; sheer obstinacy.

   You have to admire the sheer stubborn it took to rebuild after losing everything.

   There's a streak of pure stubborn running through that whole family.

   UsageAfter words of amount, with no a: a lot of stubborn, a streak of stubborn. In formal writing, stubbornness.

   Similarobstinacy, doggedness, tenacity, willfulness, pigheadedness

   Oppositeflexibility, compliance, docility

3. 3
   hard to shapeadjective

   Of a material: physically stiff and inflexible, and not easily melted or worked into a desired shape.

   The alloy proved stubborn under the hammer, refusing to take the smith's intended form.

   Cast iron is stubborn stuff, resisting most attempts to reshape it once it has cooled.

   Similarintractable, refractory, unyielding, rigid, inflexible

   Oppositemalleable, pliable, ductile, workable

4. 4
   adjective

   Of a thing or problem: difficult to get rid of, treat or alter, and tending to last.

   Economists warned that stubborn inflation could keep interest rates high for another year.

   Even after a month of antibiotics, the stubborn infection would not clear up.

   Similarpersistent, tenacious, intractable, obstinate

   Note

   Here the word moves from people to things: a stain, an infection or a rise in prices is spoken of as if it had a will and refused to budge, like the obstinate person. It pairs with whatever resists treatment (stubborn stains, a stubborn infection, stubborn inflation), and it suggests that effort has already been tried and failed, which persistent alone does not.

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