different between contrary vs obdurate

English

Etymology

From Middle English contrarie, compare French contraire, from Old French contraire, from Latin contr?rius (“opposite, opposed, contrary”), from contr? (“against”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?k?nt???i/, /k?n?t????i/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?k?nt???i/
• Rhymes: -???i (some pronunciations)

Adjective

contrary (comparative more contrary, superlative most contrary)

1. Opposite; in an opposite direction; in opposition; adverse.
2. Opposed; contradictory; inconsistent.
   • 1837, William Whewell, History of the Inductive Sciences

     The doctrine of the earth's motion appeared to be contrary to the sacred Scripture.

3. Given to opposition; perverse; wayward.

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

contrary (comparative more contrary, superlative most contrary)

1. Contrarily

Noun

contrary (plural contraries)

1. The opposite.
2. (logic) One of a pair of propositions that cannot both be simultaneously true, though they may both be false.
   • 1725, Isaac Watts, Logick, or The Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry After Truth With a Variety of Rules to Guard

     If two universals differ in quality, they are contraries; as, every vine is a tree; no vine is a tree. These can never be both true together; but they may be both false.

Synonyms

• witherward

Derived terms

• by contraries
• on the contrary
• to the contrary

Related terms

• (logic): subcontrary
• contrarian

Translations

Verb

contrary (third-person singular simple present contraries, present participle contrarying, simple past and past participle contraried)

1. (obsolete) To oppose; to frustrate.
   • April 19 1549, Hugh Latimer, seventh sermon preached before King Edward VI

     [I was advised] not to contrary the king.
2. (obsolete) To impugn.
3. (obsolete) To contradict (someone or something).
4. (obsolete) To do the opposite of (someone or something).
5. (obsolete) To act inconsistently or perversely; to act in opposition to.
6. (obsolete) To argue; to debate; to uphold an opposite opinion.
7. (obsolete) To be self-contradictory; to become reversed.

Translations

Related terms

• contra
• counter

References

• contrary in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• contrary in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• contrary at OneLook Dictionary Search
• John A. Simpson and Edward S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) , “contrary”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ?ISBN

English

Etymology

Mid-15th century, from Latin obduratus (“hardened”), form of obd?r? (“harden”), from ob- (“against”) + d?r? (“harden, render hard”), from durus (“hard”). Compare durable, endure.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??bd????t/, /??bdj???t/, /??bd????t/, /-?t/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??bd(j)???t/, /??bd(j)???t/, /-?t/
• Sometimes accented on the second syllable, especially by the older poets.

Adjective

obdurate (comparative more obdurate, superlative most obdurate)

1. Stubbornly persistent, generally in wrongdoing; refusing to reform or repent.
   • 1593, Richard Hooker, Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, Book I:

     ... sometimes the very custom of evil making the heart obdurate against whatsoever instructions to the contrary ...

   • 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 3, Act I, sc. 4:

     Art thou obdurate, flinty, hard as steel,

     Nay, more than flint, for stone at rain relenteth?

   • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book I, lines 56–8

     ... round he throws his baleful eyes

     That witness'd huge affliction and dismay

     Mixt with obdurate pride and stedfast hate:

   • 1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley,"The Revolt of Islam", canto 4, stanza 9, lines 1486-7:

     But custom maketh blind and obdurate

     The loftiest hearts.
2. (obsolete) Physically hardened, toughened.
3. Hardened against feeling; hard-hearted.
   • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 13:

     I fear the gentleman to whom Miss Amelia's letters were addressed was rather an obdurate critic.

Synonyms

• (stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing): hardened, hard-hearted, impertinent, intractable, unrepentant, unyielding, recalcitrant

Derived terms

• obduracy

Related terms

• durable, duration
• endure, endurance, enduring

Translations

Verb

obdurate (third-person singular simple present obdurates, present participle obdurating, simple past and past participle obdurated)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To harden; to obdure.

References

Anagrams

• taboured

Latin

Verb

obd?r?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of obd?r?