Link Centre Dictionary

stubborn

stub·born

UK/ˈstʌbən/ US/ˈstʌbɚn/ common informal

adjective

1.
2.

not responding to treatment

  • “a stubborn infection”
  • “a refractory case of acne”
  • “stubborn rust stains”
Synonyms
Similar
3.

difficult to treat or deal with

  • “stubborn rust stains”
  • “a stubborn case of acne”
Similar
4.

Origin

From Middle English stiborne, stibourne, stoburn, stoburne, styburne, stiborn, of uncertain origin; one hypothesis is that it may be from Old English *stybbor, from Old English stybb (“a stump, stub”) + -or (adjective-formation suffix, as in bitor, whence English bitter).

Phrases

  • stubborn as a mule
  • stubborn up

Related words

Word family

See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.