stubborn
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Refusing to change your mind or give in.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
stuhbernSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈstʌbɚn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Refusing to move or to change one's opinion; obstinate; firmly resisting; persistent in doing something.
Of materials: physically stiff and inflexible; not easily melted or worked.
noun
A disease of citrus trees characterized by stunted growth and misshapen fruit, caused by Spiroplasma citri.
informal
Stubbornness.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Refusing to move or to change one's opinion; obstinate; firmly resisting; persistent in doing something.
Used this way, stubborn is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It criticises, but without shouting.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Critical but measured
Nearby words
- mulish , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use stubborn
- “Blood can make a very stubborn stain on fabrics if not washed properly.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Refusing
Other combinations
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: refusing to move or to change one's opinion
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.