Synonyms:
| contumacious, | headstrong, | mulish, | resolute, |
| decided, | heady, | obdurate, | resolved, |
| determined, | immovable, | opinionated, | stubborn, |
| dogged, | indomitable, | persistent, | unconquerable, |
| firm, | inflexible, | pertinacious, | unflinching, |
| fixed, | intractable, | refractory, | unyielding. |
The headstrong person is not to be stopped in his own course of action, while the obstinate and stubborn is not to be driven to another's way. The headstrong act; the obstinate and stubborn may simply refuse to stir. The most amiable person may be obstinate on some one point; the stubborn person is for the most part habitually so; we speak of obstinate determination, stubborn resistance. Stubborn is the term most frequently applied to the lower animals and inanimate things. Refractory implies more activity of resistance; the stubborn horse balks; the refractory animal plunges, rears, and kicks; metals that resist ordinary processes of reduction are termed refractory. One is obdurate who adheres to his purpose in spite of appeals that would move any tender-hearted or right-minded person. Contumacious refers to a proud and insolent defiance of authority, as of the summons of a court. Pertinacious demand is contrasted with obstinate refusal. The unyielding conduct which we approve we call decided, firm, inflexible, resolute; that which we condemn we are apt to term headstrong, obstinate, stubborn. Compare [PERVERSE].
Antonyms:
| amenable, | dutiful, | pliable, | tractable, |
| complaisant, | gentle, | pliant, | undecided, |
| compliant, | irresolute, | submissive, | wavering, |
| docile, | obedient, | teachable, | yielding. |
[257]
OBSTRUCT.
Synonyms:
| arrest, | check, | embarrass, | interrupt, | stay, |
| bar, | choke, | hinder, | oppose, | stop. |
| barricade, | clog, | impede, | retard, |