# stubborn

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈstʌbɚn/ · frequency rank #10,286

## Definitions
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.

## 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).

## Easily confused with
- **stubbornly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stubborn-vs-stubbornly)

## Common misspellings (11)
`sstubborn`, `stbuborn`, `sttubborn`, `stubbonr`, `stubbornn`, `stubborrn`, `stubbron`, `stubobrn`, `stuborn`, `sutbborn`, `tsubborn`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/stubborn