stubborn

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
12
Words With Friends
16
Letters
8
Pronunciation
/ˈstʌbɚn/
See all 3 pronunciations
/ˈstʌbɚn/ · /ˈstʌbən/ · /ˈstʊbən/

Definition of stubborn

4 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

adj

  1. Refusing to move or to change one's opinion; obstinate; firmly resisting; persistent in doing something.
    “People are pretty stubborn about their political beliefs, so why bother arguing?”
    “Blood can make a very stubborn stain on fabrics if not washed properly.”
See all 4 definitions

adj

  1. Refusing to move or to change one's opinion; obstinate; firmly resisting; persistent in doing something.
    “People are pretty stubborn about their political beliefs, so why bother arguing?”
    “Blood can make a very stubborn stain on fabrics if not washed properly.”
  2. Physically stiff and inflexible; not easily melted or worked.
    “Under his hand a stubborn latch sprung noisily […]”

noun

  1. (informal, uncountable)Stubbornness.
    “But I have to say that one thing you inherited from your mother is a whole lot of stubborn.”
    “That takes a lot of stubborn for a seventy-something man.”
    “Stubborn is not eating pizza out of a square pan because you know it won't taste as good as a round one. Stubborn is spending twelve thousand dollars to fix a five-hundred-dollar truck just because it's “your baby.””
  2. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, uncountable)Ellipsis of stubborn disease (“a disease of citrus trees”).
    “With evidence that the causal agent of stubborn is spread by insects, control or prevention of this disease will prove more difficult than formerly thought to be.”
    “Sectorial infection of stubborn could be stable for long periods, but may be manifested once the trees are severely pruned, this causing the system spread of S. citri to other non-infected parts.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English stiborne, stibourne, stoburn, stoburne, styburne, stiborn, of uncertain origin; one hypothesis is that it may be from Old English *stybbor, from Old English stybb (“a stump, stub”) + -or (adjective-formation suffix, as in bitor, whence English bitter).

Words you can make from stubborn

141 playable · top: BURBOTS (11 pts)

Best play burbots 11 points

7-letter words

1 word

6-letter words

7 words

5-letter words

25 words

4-letter words

55 words

3-letter words

41 words

2-letter words

11 words

Find your best play with stubborn

See every word you can make from a set of letters that includes stubborn, or browse word lists you can mine for high-scoring plays.