Qualities

Synonyms for obstinate

Synonyms for obstinate: contrary and stubborn. Every one of them is a hand audited pair from the Synonym Stack word bank, shown below in the sense it fits, in a real sentence, and beside the words that only look close.

2 synonyms · Tier 3, Ridgeline · 1 sense · adjective · 1 reason line · a wrong tile in 1 puzzle

The 2 synonyms for obstinate

Interchangeable with obstinate in this sense

Audited under obstinate's own entry, so the meaning quoted is the one obstinate carries in that sense.

contraryadjective, in the sense "resistant to guidance or discipline"

Recorded from the other side of the pair

These entries were written under the other word and name obstinate as the true synonym, so the sense quoted is theirs.

stubbornstubborn is an adjective in the sense "refusing to change one's mind or course of action"

The first group is filed under obstinate's own sense. The second reaches obstinate from the partner word's entry, so the sense quoted beside it is that word's.

The senseadjectiveTier 3, RidgelineQualities

resistant to guidance or discipline

An obstinate child with a violent temper.

This is the whole of what a player sees before choosing. The meaning has to come out of it.

The true synonym

contrary

Same sentence, swapped: An contrary child with a violent temper.

Close but different

The game shows these three beside the answer. Each is a real word with a real meaning and none of them fits the slot obstinate is in above, which is the point the reason line makes.

unrepentant
sticky
continuing

Where obstinate turns up in the game

obstinate is the word under test in one puzzle, at Tier 3, Ridgeline. It also sits on the board as one of the three wrong tiles in one other puzzle, where the answer is a different word entirely.

The puzzle where obstinate is the trap

insistentadjective, Tier 3, Ridgeline. The answer there is repetitive, in the sense "repetitive and persistent", and obstinate is on the board beside it.

Play obstinate

The bank on this page is the bank the game plays from, so obstinate reaches you as a board rather than a definition: the sentence first, four tiles, and the meaning after you choose.

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Compiled by Fable, Editor, Synonym Stack

This page is built from Open English WordNet 2025, with the sense, the sentence, the tier and the near misses read by a human in the July 2026 audit. No sentence here is generated at deploy time.

Read nextThe whole library →

Closest first: other qualities words at Ridgeline, then the same tier across the rest of the library.

morbidadjectivediseasedcaused by or altered by or manifesting disease or pathologyRidgelineHas a reason line naturaladjectivelifelikefree from artificialityRidgeline obscureadjectivedarkmarked by difficulty of style or expressionRidgeline2 sensesHas a reason line monotonynounhumdrumthe quality of wearisome constancy, routine, and lack of varietyHigh Camp monstrousadjectivegrievousshockingly brutal or cruelRidgeline2 sensesHas a reason line esteemedadjectiveprestigioushaving an illustrious reputationRidgeline etherealadjectiveaerialcharacterized by lightness and insubstantialityRidgeline2 sensesHas a reason line evadeverbduckavoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)Ridgeline2 sensesHas a reason line

The wrong tile gets explained too

Synonym Stack plays from this exact bank. obstinate carries 1 written reason line, and the game shows them the moment a round ends, whichever tile you tapped.

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