stubborn
- 01 B1 Intermediate
refusing to change your mind or your behavior, even when people give you good reasons to do so.
unreasonably or perversely unyielding; refusing to change one's opinion or course of action despite persuasion.
Simple“He was too stubborn to admit that he had taken the wrong road.”
In context“The negotiator remained stubborn throughout the afternoon, refusing to concede even the most minor points of the contract.”
Synonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
difficult to move, remove, or deal with.
difficult to handle, manage, or treat; resistant to physical force or chemical action.
Simple“I used a special soap to get the stubborn grass stains out of my jeans.”
In context“The mechanic spent hours wrestling with a stubborn bolt that had rusted into place over several decades.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 03 C1 Advanced
describing a material that is stiff and does not bend or melt easily.
physically stiff and inflexible; specifically used in technical contexts for materials that are difficult to work or melt.
Simple“The old leather had become stubborn and hard to sew after years in the sun.”
In context“Certain stubborn ores require significantly higher temperatures before they begin the smelting process.”
SynonymsAntonymspliantmalleable
From Middle English stiborne, stibourne, stoburn, stoburne, styburne, stiborn, of uncertain origin; one hypothesis is that it may be from Old English *stybbor, from Old English stybb (“a stump, stub”) + -or (adjective-formation suffix, as in bitor, whence English bitter).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.