Unyielding — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

Unyielding (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

1. showing no signs of slackening or yielding in one's purpose

   "the pioneers faced the challenge of settling the frontier with unyielding courage"

   similar: determined, dogged, grim, implacable, relentless, unappeasable, unflinching, unrelenting
   related: persevering, persistent, tenacious, hard, hardheaded, headstrong, intractable, mulish, obdurate, opinionated, peevish, pertinacious, perverse, pigheaded, self-willed, stubborn, uncooperative, willful, merciless, ruthless, unforgiving
   near: slackening, softening, yielding, impotent, invertebrate, slack, spineless, weak, complaisant, obliging, pliable, pliant

2. having a consistency that does not easily yield to pressure

   "knead the dough until it feels reasonably unyielding"

   similar: compact, firm, hard, rigid, solid, stiff
   related: case-hardened, compacted, compressed, hardened, indurated, stiffened, tempered, close, dense, heavy, thick, thickset, inelastic, inflexible, ramrod, unbending, condensed, adamantine, rocklike, sturdy, substantial, impenetrable, impermeable, nonporous
   opposite: flabby, soft, spongy, squashy, squishy
   near: loose, scattered, thin, bendable, elastic, flexible, malleable, pliable, pliant, supple, droopy, flaccid, floppy, lank, limp, slack, airy, light, permeable, porous, ultrasoft

3. incapable of or highly resistant to bending

   "an unyielding steel bar"

   similar: inflexible, rigid, stiff, stiffened
   related: inelastic, firm, hard, solid, sound, strong, brittle, crisp, compact, dense, substantial, arthritic, rheumatic, nonelastic, nonmalleable
   opposite: flexible, floppy, pliable, pliant, supple, yielding
   near: elastic, resilient, springy, stretchy, workable, malleable, plastic, semiflexible, droopy, flabby, flaccid, mushy, semisoft, soft, squashy, squishy, lank, limber, limp, lissome, lithe, lithesome, willowy

4. sticking to an opinion, purpose, or course of action in spite of reason, arguments, or persuasion

   "despite studies showing that limits on development would hurt the local economy, the town council remained unyielding in their support for these limits"

   similar: adamant, adamantine, bullheaded, dogged, hard, hard-nosed, hardened, hardheaded, headstrong, immovable, implacable, inconvincible, inflexible, intransigent, mulish, obdurate, obstinate, opinionated, ossified, pat, pertinacious, perverse, pigheaded, self-opinionated, self-willed, stiff-necked, stubborn, unbending, uncompromising, unrelenting, willful, deaf to reason
   related: anal-retentive, obsessive, wayward, wrongheaded, determined, hell-bent, inexorable, persistent, relentless, resolved, set, single-minded, steadfast, stouthearted, tenacious, unflinching, firm, hard-line, hard-shell, iron, severe, stern, strict, hidebound, narrow-minded, rigid, bloody-minded (chiefly British), cantankerous, contrary, cussed, contumacious, disobedient, froward, insubordinate, intractable, recalcitrant, refractory, uncooperative, ungovernable, unmanageable, unruly, defiant, insurgent, mutinous, indomitable, invincible, unconquerable, confirmed, inveterate, unregenerate, demanding, exacting
   opposite: acquiescent, agreeable, amenable, compliant, complying, flexible, pliable, pliant, relenting, yielding
   near: docile, obedient, placable, submissive, tractable, accepting, persuadable, receptive, responsive, willing, governable, manageable, reasonable, temperate, slavish, subservient