How to Use obstinate in a Sentence

obstinate

adjective
Definition of obstinatenext
Synonyms for obstinatenext
  • My parents remain as obstinate as ever.
  • The Dems just want to be obstinate at the cost to America.
    — Fox News, 20 Apr. 2018
  • Ed remains obstinate, but the other guys keep them from coming to blows.
    — Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 18 Nov. 2020
  • And those obstinate little gray bastards that sprung up all over my scalp needed to be evicted.
    — Donna Freydkin, Allure, 30 Oct. 2017
  • And the obstinate idiosyncrasies of his music were at times judged even more harshly.
    — Seth Colter Walls, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2020
  • One irritating or obstinate writer can bring the entire machinery of a show to a halt.
    — Mike Reiss, WSJ, 25 May 2018
  • Little is known about why Snyder is taking such an obstinate stance in the case of Sutton.
    — Vahe Gregorian, kansascity.com, 2 June 2017
  • As two tiny eyes peer out from beneath the shell, short tentacles tickle the air, revealing a certain obstinate charm.
    — Degen Pener, Los Angeles Magazine, 22 June 2018
  • So the White House will have to weigh whether Pruitt can still advance the ball for the Trump agenda against the obstinate questions about his ethics.
    — Umair Irfan, Vox, 12 Apr. 2018
  • When Kayla rode Tonka, the horse was still a bit obstinate and persnickety.
    — Roy Bragg, San Antonio Express-News, 12 Apr. 2018
  • Doing good self-care is different than just being obstinate and willful.
    — Tribune Content Agency, oregonlive.com, 25 July 2019
  • Ever obstinate nearly two centuries after his death, Beethoven still won’t roll over.
    — Mark Swed, latimes.com, 8 June 2018
  • Her life, shuttling between two obstinate men, starts to seem unsustainable.
    — Rachel Syme, The New Republic, 24 Apr. 2018
  • Since the first cases here were diagnosed nearly five weeks ago, an obstinate equanimity has prevailed.
    — Arthur Longworth, The New York Review of Books, 12 Apr. 2020
  • All these gifts come with notes signed off with a smiley face, and an obstinate red bow that becomes something of an ominous symbol after the third successive casual drop-by.
    — Tom Philip, GQ, 25 Mar. 2018
  • Since obstinate listing agents of this ilk do not care about their online reputation, your neighbor must hire a real estate attorney who does.
    — Pat Kapowich, The Mercury News, 6 June 2019
  • Taureans may find their horns locked with fellow obstinate signs Leos and Aquarians.
    — Aliza Kelly Faragher, Allure, 27 Oct. 2017
  • But Haley and Roethlisberger are the obstinate toddlers trying turning their heads every which way.
    — Ryan Wooden, ajc, 8 Oct. 2017
  • In the end, the obstinate forces of tradition and inertia stymied the administration’s move from Bankova Street.
    — Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2019
  • The quiet but obstinate determination of a man who has decided to stay behind forms the center of Mr. Laurent’s film.
    — Dan Bilefsky, New York Times, 31 Mar. 2016
  • Fleming's Bond is often described as cold, but the novels do offer a glimpse of his inner life -- his sense of duty, his moral courage, his obstinate resilience.
    — Will Nevin, OregonLive.com, 14 July 2017
  • None of this is to say that Mr. Peltz isn’t a good investor, or that, in certain circumstances, obstinate companies don’t need change.
    — Andrew Ross Sorkin, New York Times, 17 July 2017
  • After all, those of us born under the fifth astrological sign are known for being passionate, obstinate, and unbending, with a taste for the finer things and just a touch of the imperious.
    — Adam Rathe, Town & Country, 12 Nov. 2019
  • When my father finished telling the story, he looked at me, then looked away. A moment of silence lodged between us, an old and obstinate silence.
    — Bernard Cooper, Harper's, August 1992
  • Bombastic and obstinate, Johnson's speeches were full of self-praise and contradictory claims of triumph.
    — Steve Haycox, Alaska Dispatch News, 27 July 2017
  • What did they know of life? All they knew was how to parrot the stock phrases of their profession and to continue to be obstinate until somebody, somewhere, paid up.
    — Alexander McCall Smith, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, 1998
  • The process went smoothly until an obstinate 19th-century steamer trunk refused to open and reveal its insides.
    — Domenica Bongiovanni, Indianapolis Star, 22 May 2018
  • The facetious old turn of phrase that identifies schooling with the three Rs – reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic – may express the most obstinate block to change in education.
    — Seymour Papert, WIRED, 1 Feb. 1993
  • Her mom spoke of Erica’s fiery spirit, her obstinate, aggressive belief in herself and her choices, and her unyielding love for her father.
    — Angela Helm, The Root, 9 Jan. 2018
  • But, to strengthen the Syrian state and turn it into a regional power, Assad became increasingly ruthless with opponents at home and obstinate with the outside world.
    — Robin Wright, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'obstinate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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