Definition of Obstinacy

obstinacy (noun) - the character or condition of being obstinate; pertinacions adherence to an opinion, purpose, or course of conduct, whether right or wrong, and in spite of argument or entreaty; a fixedness, and generally an unreasonable fixedness, of opinion or resolution, that cannot be shaken; stubbornness; pertinacity

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How can obstinacy be used in a sentence?

  1. Heil was frustrated, yet his obstinacy was a good sign.

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  2. The young vice-toqui, exasperated at what he called the obstinacy of the

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  3. In ordinaiy men this conduct is called obstinacy, in you, it is perse - verance.

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  4. Mammy has a kind of obstinacy about her, in spots, that everybody don't see as I do.

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  5. At the word obstinacy, the general's face, which was before rigid, grew hard as iron.

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  6. But there is another kind of obstinacy which seems utterly useless, especially to the person exercising it.

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  7. At Northampton I often offended people I liked by what they called my obstinacy when a principle was at stake.

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  8. He had been trying to persuade me to disregard what he termed the obstinacy of the old folks, and said impatiently:

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  9. What we call obstinacy, they call constancy; and what we condemn them for as pertinacy, they embrace as perseverance.

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  10. Not Wednesday, when October truly began, and Jeff Francis mowed down a Philadelphia team that is the Rockies 'equal in obstinacy.

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  11. What ought to be firmness of character is apt to take the form of a vein of quiet obstinacy, which is latent in almost all Indians.

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  12. England states were equally angry at what they called the obstinacy of the South, and threats of secession were heard on both sides.

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  13. One of the most frequent occasions for recourse to this punishment is obstinacy, but what is called obstinacy is only fear or incapacity.

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  14. "And I suppose he was tired out with what he called my obstinacy, and he told me that if ever I dared to mention the army again he would give me

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  15. "'This woman, whose pride amounts to a vice, has shown a power of resistance in misfortune, which on some evenings I call the obstinacy of a mule.

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  16. The same "expertise" that NYT touts, matched to the wrong temperament, can lead not so much to leadership but to obstinacy which is what Mike Griffin had.

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  17. But, like lemmings, they demonstrate a kind of obstinacy that is utterly useless, because the historical setting has changed fundamentally and irrevocably.

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  18. Others, white-headed men too, had only learnt hardness and obstinacy from the days of the years of their lives, and sneered at the more gentle and yielding.

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  19. In London, Prime Minister Gordon Brown in a statement attacked the "obstinacy" of the government for not allowing Ban to meet Suu Kyi and hinted at sanctions.

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  20. You think women have no resolution, and no souls -- be it so -- and what you dignify with the name of perseverance in your own sex, you call obstinacy in ours.

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  21. "But, like lemmings, they demonstrate a kind of obstinacy that is utterly useless, because the historical setting has changed fundamentally and irrevocably," Mbeki said.

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  22. My guess is that 'obstinacy' over there is defined in terms of someone who, after repeated exposure, cannot see the utter brilliance and persuasiveness of the ID position.

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  23. After several days of what her master termed "obstinacy" on her part, the young girl was placed in an upper chamber, and told that that would be her home, until she should yield to her master's wishes.

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  24. Though his obstinacy was a part of his national temperament, and his physical and mental irritability in part a result of his ill-health, any candid estimate of his life cannot altogether overlook them.

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  25. My father, as may be imagined, was highly incensed at my perseverance, which he called obstinacy, but, what will not be so easily believed, he soon after relented, and appointed a day to take me from the convent.

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  26. He came to see me when he had read it and said: "I am glad you have come down on the real culprit, George III.," and quoted one or two people who had said his obstinacy was the cause of so many of Ireland's troubles.

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  27. Religious obstinacy is hardened and exasperated by oppression; and, as soon as the persecution subsides, those who have yielded are restored as penitents, and those who have resisted are honored as saints and martyrs.

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  28. Erebus knew her brother well; she perceived that she was confronted by what she called his obstinacy; and though his brazen-faced admission had raised her to the very height of amazement and horror, she uttered no protest.

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  29. The issue of this obstinacy is to be greatly dreaded: Those that go on in sin, in spite of admonition, shall be destroyed; those that will not be reformed must expect to be ruined; if the rods answer not the end, expect the axes.

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  30. Sinners are often awakened to sec their danger, while they are entirely ignorant of the plague of their own hearts, or that incorrigible obstinacy, which is incurable and desperate and which no means, nor moral motives will remove.

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  31. Marcus Aurelius was contemptuously astonished at what he called the obstinacy of the Christians; he knew not from what source these nameless heroes drew a strength superior to his own, though he was at the same time emperor and sage.

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  32. The party tried to hail the steamer in the fog, wishing Lawry to put them on board of her; but her people did not hear their demand, or would not stop for them, and the party were highly incensed at what they called the obstinacy of Lawry.

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  33. "Yes; I get very angry, and that gets up a kind of obstinacy, which makes me not feel half so much mental misery as would be my portion if I were to succumb to the evil, and commence whining over it, as many people do, under the pretence of being resigned."

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  34. My misanthropy allowed me to utter cynical sallies against men and women both, and I indulged in them, hoping to bring Honorine to the confidential point; but she was not to be caught in any trap, and I began to understand that mulish obstinacy which is commoner among women than is generally supposed.

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  35. "acquent," and, considering with what a very considerable dose of tenacity, vivacity, and that glorious firmness (which the beasts who don't like us call obstinacy) we are both endowed, the fact that we have never had the shadow of a shade of a quarrel is more to our credit than being ex-Presidents and

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  36. She only smiled in scorn, and those who stood by wept to see one so young and so beautiful persisting in what they termed obstinacy and rashness, and entreated her to yield; but she refused, and by her eloquent appeal so touched their hearts that forty persons declared themselves Christians, and ready to die with her.

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  37. Not being able to vanquish what he called my obstinacy, Maisons begged me at the least to go and fix myself upon the Quai de la Megisserie, where so much old iron is sold, and examine from that spot the tower where the will was; he pointed it out to me; it looked out upon the Quai des Morforidus, but was behind the buildings on the quai.

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  38. "Finding himself thwarted in his attempt to enforce my obedience, Captain de Haldimar, who seemed much agitated and annoyed by what he termed my obstinacy, now descended to entreaty; and in the name of that life which I had preserved to him, and of that deep gratitude which he had ever since borne to me, conjured me not to prevent his departure.

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  39. Mordecai laid the danger to heart more than any because he knew that Haman's spite was against him primarily, and that it was for his sake that the rest of the Jews were struck at; and therefore, though he did not repent of what some would call his obstinacy, for he persisted in it (ch.v. 9), yet it troubled him greatly that his people should suffer for his scruples, which perhaps occasioned some of them to reflect upon him as too precise.

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  40. If the church as well as in the world, the persons who were placed in any public station rendered themselves considerable by their eloquence and firmness, by their knowledge of mankind, and by their dexterity in business; and while they concealed from others, and perhaps from themselves, the secret motives of their conduct, they too frequently relapsed into all the turbulent passions of active life, which were tinctured with an additional degree of bitterness and obstinacy from the infusion of spiritual zeal.

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Tips for Using obstinacy in a Sentence

You may have an easier time writing sentences with obstinacy if you know what words are likely to come before or after it, or simply what words are often found in the same sentence.

Frequent Predecessors

Words that often come before obstinacy in sentences. For example: "the obstinacy" or "and obstinacy"

  • the
  • and
  • his
  • of
  • their
  • an
  • her
  • or
  • with
  • great

Frequent Successors

Words that often come after obstinacy in sentences. For example: "obstinacy of" or "obstinacy ."

  • of
  • .
  • and
  • in
  • with
  • which
  • to
  • that
  • was
  • or

Associated Words

Words that aren't necessarily predecessors or successors, but are often found in the same sentence.

  • stubbornness
  • benedict
  • refused
  • pope
  • your
  • relations
  • good
  • strong
  • put
  • you

Alternate Definitions

  • obstinacy (noun) - a fixedness in will, opinion, or resolution that can not be shaken at all, or only with great difficulty; firm and usually unreasonable adherence to an opinion, purpose, or system; unyielding disposition; stubborness; pertinacity; persistency; contumacy
  • obstinacy (noun) - the quality or state of being difficult to remedy, relieve, or subdue
A sentence using obstinacy