Obstinate, a.
Etymology: [L. obstinatus, p.p. of obstinare to set about a thing with firmness, to persist in; ob (see Ob-) + a word from the root of stare to stand. See Stand, and cf.Destine.]
1. Pertinaciously adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course; persistent; not yielding to reason, arguments, or other means; stubborn; pertinacious; -- usually implying unreasonableness. I have known great cures done by obstinate resolution of drinking no wine. Sir W. Temple. No ass so meek, no ass so obstinate. Pope. Of sense and outward things. Wordsworth.
2. Not yielding; not easily subdued or removed; as, obstinate fever; obstinate obstructions.
Syn. -- Stubborn; inflexible; immovable; firm; pertinacious; persistent; headstrong; opinionated; unyielding; refractory; contumacious. See Stubborn. -- Ob"sti*nate*ly, adv. -- Ob"sti*nate*ness, n.
Shades of meaning
The headstrong person is not to be stopped in his own course of action, while the obstinate and stubborn is not to be driven to another's way. The headstrong act; the obstinate and stubborn may simply refuse to stir. The most amiable person may be obstinate on some one point; the stubborn person is for the most part habitually so; we speak of obstinate determination, stubborn resistance. Stubborn is the term most frequently applied to the lower animals and inanimate things. Refractory implies more activity of resistance; the stubborn horse balks; the refractory animal plunges, rears, and kicks; metals that resist ordinary processes of reduction are termed refractory. One is obdurate who adheres to his purpose in spite of appeals that would move any tender-hearted or right-minded person. Contumacious refers to a proud and insolent defiance of authority, as of the summons of a court. Pertinacious demand is contrasted with obstinate refusal. The unyielding conduct which we approve we call decided, firm, inflexible, resolute; that which we condemn we are apt to term headstrong, obstinate, stubborn. Compare perverse.