obstinate

Etymology

From Middle English obstinate, obstinat, from Latin obstinātus, past participle of obstinō (“set one's mind firmly upon, resolve”), from ob (“before”) + *stinare, from stare (“to stand”). Doublet of ostinato.

adj

  1. Stubbornly adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course, usually with implied unreasonableness; persistent.
    From this consideration it is that we have derived the custom, in times of war, to punish […] those who are obstinate to defend a place that by the rules of war is not tenable […] 1686, Montaigne, translated by Charles Cotton, That men are justly punished for being obstinate in the defence of a fort that is not in reason to be defended
  2. (of inanimate things) Not easily subdued or removed.
    1925-29, Mahadev Desai (translator), M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Part IV, Chapter XXIX, Now it happened that Kasturbai […] had again begun getting haemorrhage, and the malady seemed to be obstinate.
  3. (of a facial feature) Typical of an obstinate person; fixed and unmoving.

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