intransigence

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/ɪnˈtɹæn.sɪ.d͡ʒəns/

noun

Unwillingness to change one's views or to agree.

“Near-synonyms: stubbornness, immovableness, intransigentism”

UncommonScrabble 16

Meanings

nounintransigence (countable and uncountable, plural intransigences)

plural intransigences

  1. countableuncountableUnwillingness to change one's views or to agree.

    Near-synonyms: stubbornness, immovableness, intransigentism

    5 more examples

    The intransigence of both sides frustrated the negotiators.

    Meanwhile, we have encouraged and supported efforts to reach a political settlement in Afghanistan which would lead to a withdrawal of Soviet forces from that country and meet the interests of all concerned. It is Soviet intransigence that has kept those efforts from bearing fruit.

    1981 January 16, Jimmy Carter, State of the Union Address

    The curse has been Spanish ineptitude feeding Gibraltarian intransigence. Border hold-ups are counterproductive to winning hearts and minds, as were blundering Argentinian landings on the outer Falklands.

    2013 August 14, Simon Jenkins, “Gibraltar and the Falklands deny the logic of history”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 22 Apr 2021

    Rishi Sunak is not interested in the climate emergency – and everyone knows it. Forced to make a flying visit to Cop27, Mr Sunak’s intransigence made him an outcast at the UN summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

    2022 November 7, “The Guardian view on Rishi Sunak’s Cop27 trip: placing the planet on a road to hell”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 07 Mar 2023

    "We feel that we've been compelled to take this action due to the intransigence of the Government," said RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch.

    2022 December 14, Mel Holley, “Network News: Strikes go on as RMT rejects RDG's "detrimental" offer”, in RAIL, number 972, page 8

    Synonyms: intransigency, stubbornness, immovableness, intransigentism

Synonyms & antonyms

nounUnwillingness to change one's views or to agree.

More synonyms by meaning

nounthe trait of being intransigent; stubbornly refusing to compromise

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Spanishintransigente
  2. Frenchintransigeance
  3. Englishintransigence

From French intransigeance, noun form of intransigeant, borrowed from Spanish intransigente at the end of the nineteenth century. Morphologically, from in- + transiger + -ant, literally "uncompromising".

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian непримиримост, безкомпромисност
  • непримиримост (neprimirimost)intransigence
  • безкомпромисност (bezkompromisnost)intransigence
Chinese Mandarin 不妥協 /不妥协
  • 不妥協 /不妥协 (bùtuǒxié)intransigence
Danish kompromisløshed, umedgørlighed
  • kompromisløshedintransigence
  • umedgørlighedintransigence
Dutch onverzettelijkheid
  • onverzettelijkheidintransigence
Finnish myöntymättömyys
  • myöntymättömyysintransigence
French intransigeance
  • intransigeanceintransigence
German Unnachgiebigkeit, Intransigenz
  • Unnachgiebigkeitintransigence
  • Intransigenzintransigence
Greek αδιαλλαξία
  • αδιαλλαξία (adiallaxía)intransigence
Icelandic þrjóska
  • þrjóskaintransigence
Norwegian Bokmål umedgjørlighet
  • umedgjørlighetintransigence
Polish nieprzejednanie, nieustępliwość
  • nieprzejednanieintransigence
  • nieustępliwośćintransigence
Romanian intransigență
  • intransigențăintransigence
Russian непримири́мость, непрекло́нность
  • непримири́мость (neprimirímostʹ)intransigence
  • непрекло́нность (nepreklónnostʹ)intransigence
  • бескомпроми́ссность (beskompromíssnostʹ)intransigence
Spanish intransigencia
  • intransigenciaintransigence
Swedish omedgörlighet
  • omedgörlighetintransigence

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

intransigence. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/intransigence

MLA

“intransigence.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/intransigence. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “intransigence,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/intransigence.

Source: intransigence on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.