Word of the Day - 09/13/25
obdurate
/'ɑbdʊrɪt/(adj.): stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
The obdurate criminal refused to confess, despite overwhelming evidence against him.
(adj.): showing unfeeling resistance to tender feelings
His obdurate refusal to forgive showed an unfeeling resistance to her tearful pleas.
Word Origin
The word 'obdurate' originates from the Latin 'obduratus', the past participle of 'obdurare', meaning 'to harden'. This verb is formed from 'ob-' (an intensive prefix, sometimes meaning 'against' or 'to') and 'durare' ('to harden', 'to be hard'), which itself comes from 'durus' ('hard'). Thus, 'obdurate' literally means 'hardened against' or 'thoroughly hardened'.
Words with similar origins include 'durable' (from Latin 'durabilis', from 'durare'), 'duration' (from Latin 'duratio', from 'durare'), 'endure' (from Latin 'indurare', from 'in-' + 'durare'), and 'duress' (from Old French 'duresce', from Latin 'duritia', from 'durus'). All these words share the common Latin root 'durus' or 'durare' related to hardness or lasting.