adamant

[ ad-uh-muhnt, -mant ]
See synonyms for adamant on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. utterly unyielding in attitude or opinion in spite of all appeals, urgings, etc.

  2. too hard to cut, break, or pierce.

noun
  1. any impenetrably or unyieldingly hard substance.

  2. a legendary stone of impenetrable hardness, formerly sometimes identified with the diamond.

Origin of adamant

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English, from Old French adamaunt, from Latin adamant- (stem of adamas ) “hard metal (perhaps steel), diamond,” from Greek, equivalent to a- a-6 + -damant- verbal adjective of damân “to tame, conquer”; replacing Old English athamans (from Medieval Latin ) and Middle English aymont, from Middle French aimant, from unattested Vulgar Latin adimant-, from Latin

Other words for adamant

Opposites for adamant

Other words from adamant

  • ad·a·man·cy [ad-uh-muhn-see], /ˈæd ə mən si/, ad·a·mance, noun
  • ad·a·mant·ly, adverb
  • un·ad·a·mant, adjective

Words Nearby adamant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use adamant in a sentence

  • He was strong; his will was adamant as the blade of Trenchefer; to save those dear ones a single pang—what would he not suffer!

    God Wills It! | William Stearns Davis
  • Once he paused at the sealed door, and flung himself against it—adamant had scarce seemed firmer.

    God Wills It! | William Stearns Davis
  • And how I thanked my God for the adamant bulwarks of coral that protected my ark from the fury of the treacherous seas!

  • I went to General Kock and pleaded with him, but he was adamant.

  • He moistened his lips, and glanced at her for succor, but she was adamant.

    Mr. Opp | Alice Hegan Rice

British Dictionary definitions for adamant

adamant

/ (ˈædəmənt) /


adjective
  1. unshakable in purpose, determination, or opinion; unyielding

  2. a less common word for adamantine (def. 1)

noun
  1. any extremely hard or apparently unbreakable substance

  2. a legendary stone said to be impenetrable, often identified with the diamond or loadstone

Origin of adamant

1
Old English: from Latin adamant-, stem of adamas, from Greek; literal meaning perhaps: unconquerable, from a- 1 + daman to tame, conquer

Derived forms of adamant

  • adamantly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012