Some people hold their ground; some give way. English has a crowd of words for the first kind, and the trick is that they do not all mean the same thing about the person. Holding on to a goal through every setback is tenacious or steadfast, and we admire it. Refusing to budge when you are plainly wrong is obstinate or obdurate, and we don’t.
Key idea
Ask two questions about each word: Is the person firm or yielding? and Does the writer approve? Resolute and steadfast praise firmness; intransigent and recalcitrant blame it. At the other end, docile and malleable describe someone (or something) easy to lead or shape.
Several of these words carry pictures inside them. Recalcitrant comes from a Latin verb for kicking back with the heels, obdurate from a verb for hardening, and malleable from the Latin for hammer.
The ten words
Common mistake
tenacious and steadfast usually praise; obstinate and recalcitrant usually blame. The same firmness gets a kind word or an unkind one depending on the writer's view.
| firm, and the writer approves | firm, and the writer disapproves | yielding |
|---|---|---|
| tenacious: holds on, won’t give up | obstinate: won’t change a bad plan | docile: easy to lead |
| steadfast: loyal and unchanging | intransigent: won’t compromise | malleable: easy to shape or sway |
| resolute: firmly determined | recalcitrant: won’t obey | |
| adamant: firmly insisting (either way) | obdurate: hard-hearted, unmoved |
A writer who likes a stubborn character calls her tenacious or resolute; a writer who doesn’t calls her obstinate. On a test, read the sentence around the blank: if the stubbornness is causing trouble (“refused to listen,” “made things worse”), choose a word that blames.