Stubborn

Stubborn

Adjective · /ˈstʌbən/ · refusing to change; persisting despite difficulty or opposition

Definition

Stubborn describes a person, animal, or thing that refuses to change position, yield, or give way — regardless of argument, pressure, or evidence. It can describe a person who simply will not be moved on a matter: a stubborn negotiator, a stubborn child who refuses to eat their vegetables. It can describe a problem that resists solution: a stubborn stain, a stubborn cough that lingers for weeks. In its most neutral sense, stubborn simply means persistent and unyielding. The word carries different weight depending on whether you admire or resent the unyieldingness in question.

Origin

Stubborn entered Middle English in the fourteenth century. Its exact origin is uncertain — the most likely ancestor is an Old English or Norse root related to the idea of a stub or stump: something that is cut down but refuses to budge from the ground, rooted so deeply that it cannot be pulled out. The image of an immovable tree stump captures the word perfectly. By the fifteenth century it was in common use to describe intractable people and obstinate animals.