different between imperious vs stubborn

English

Etymology

From Latin imperi?sus (“mighty, powerful”), from imperium (“command, authority, power”)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m?p???i.?s/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?m?p??i.?s/
• Rhymes: -??ri?s

Adjective

imperious (not comparable)

1. Domineering, arrogant, or overbearing.
   • 1866 – Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Gambler, translated by C. J. Hogarth

     ...she glanced about her in an imperious, challenging sort of way, with looks and gestures that clearly were unstudied.

2. Urgent.
   • 1891 – Ambrose Bierce, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

     Circumstances of an imperious nature, which it is unnecessary to relate here, had prevented him from taking service with that gallant army which had fought the disastrous campaigns ending with the fall of Corinth.

3. (obsolete) Imperial or regal.
   • 1899 – Stephen Crane, The Angel Child, Whilomville Stories

     She was quick, beautiful, imperious, while he was quiet, slow, and misty.

Synonyms

• (domineering): authoritarian, bossy, dictatorial, domineering, overbearing

Related terms

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle English stiborne, stibourne, stoburn, stoburne, styburne, stiborn. Origin uncertain.

One theory is that the origin may come from *stybor, *stibor, from Old English stybb (“a stump, stub”) + adj. formative -or as in Old English bitor, English bitter.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?st?b?n/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?st?b?n/
• Rhymes: -?b?(?)n
• Hyphenation: stub?born

Adjective

stubborn (comparative stubborner, superlative stubbornest)

1. Refusing to move or to change one's opinion; obstinate; firmly resisting; persistent in doing something.

2. Of materials: physically stiff and inflexible; not easily melted or worked.

Synonyms

• willful, headstrong, wayward, obstinate, obdurate, contrary, disobedient, insubordinate, undisciplined, adamant, unyielding, rebellious
• See also Thesaurus:obstinate, perseverant, persistent, enduring

Derived terms

• stubbornly
• stubbornness

Translations

Noun

stubborn (uncountable)

1. (informal) Stubbornness.
2. A disease of citrus trees characterized by stunted growth and misshapen fruit, caused by Spiroplasma citri.

Further reading

• stubborn in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• stubborn in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• stubborn at OneLook Dictionary Search