Stubborn, a.
Etymology: [OE. stoburn, stiborn; probably fr. AS. styb a stub. See Stub.]
Firm as a stub or stump; stiff; unbending; unyielding; persistent; hence, unreasonably obstinate in will or opinion; not yielding to reason or persuasion; refractory; harsh; -- said of persons and things; as, stubborn wills; stubborn ore; a stubborn oak; as stubborn as a mule. "Bow, stubborn knees." Shak. "Stubborn attention and more than common application." Locke. "Stubborn Stoics." Swift. And I was young and full of ragerie [wantonness] Stubborn and strong, and jolly as a pie. Chaucer. These heretics be so stiff and stubborn. Sir T. More. Your stubborn usage of the pope. Shak.
Syn. -- Obstinate; inflexible; obdurate; headstrong; stiff; hardy; firm; refractory; intractable; rugged; contumacious; heady. -- Stubborn, Obstinate. Obstinate is used of either active or passive persistence in one's views or conduct, in spite of the wishes of others. Stubborn describes an extreme degree of passive obstinacy. -- Stub"born*ly, adv. -- Stub"born*ness, n.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for stubborn; he lists it under obstinate, perverse, restive.
Where he writes about it:
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. — from obstinate
The headstrong act; the obstinate and stubborn may simply refuse to stir. — from obstinate
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. — from obstinate
Stubborn is the term most frequently applied to the lower animals and inanimate things. — from obstinate
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. — from obstinate
The unyielding conduct which we approve we call decided, firm, inflexible, resolute; that which we condemn we are apt to term headstrong, obstinate, stubborn. — from obstinate
The stubborn or obstinate person will not do what another desires or requires; the perverse person will do anything contrary to what is desired or required of him. — from perverse
Balky, mulish, obstinate, and stubborn are synonyms of restive only in an infrequent if not obsolete use; the supposed sense of "tending to rest," "standing stubbornly still," is scarcely supported by any examples, and those cited to support that meaning often fail to do so. — from restive