stiff-necked
Refusing to yield
Stiff-necked means stubbornly resistant to advice, correction, or authority—unwilling to bow the head in submission.
The image is of someone whose neck won't bend.
The term has biblical roots, where it described the Israelites' obstinacy toward God: a stiff-necked people who would not listen.
It suggests prideful inflexibility rather than principled resolve.
Refusing to change course
- pigheadedStubbornly refusing to yield
- bullheadedStubbornly refusing to yield
- mulishStubbornly refusing to yield
- headstrongStubbornly self-willed
willful · contrary · defiant · recalcitrant · obdurate · ornery · perverse · contumacious
Refusing to change position
- inflexibleUnable to bend
- rigidUnable to bend
- uncompromisingRefusing to yield ground
- adamantStubbornly refusing to yield
immovable · implacable · intransigent · hardline · iron-willed · steely · unrelenting · inexorable
Disdainfully proud
- arrogantExcessively high self-regard
- pridefulFeeling superior to others
- imperiousArrogantly authoritative
- superciliousArrogantly contemptuous of others
disdainful · aloof · superior · lofty · conceited · uppity · high-and-mighty · self-important
stubborn
Refusing to change course
- pigheadedStubbornly refusing to yield
- bullheadedStubbornly refusing to yield
- mulishStubbornly refusing to yield
headstrong · willful · contrary · defiant · recalcitrant · obdurate · ornery · perverse · contumacious · wayward
unbending
Refusing to change position
- inflexibleUnable to bend
- rigidUnable to bend
- uncompromisingRefusing to yield ground
adamant · immovable · implacable · intransigent · hardline · iron-willed · steely · unrelenting · inexorable · relentless
haughty
Disdainfully proud
- arrogantExcessively high self-regard
- pridefulFeeling superior to others
- imperiousArrogantly authoritative
supercilious · disdainful · aloof · superior · lofty · conceited · uppity · high-and-mighty · self-important · snobbish
- closed-mindednessclosed-mindedness, close-mindedness, narrow-mindedness, inflexibility, rigidity
- tenacitydetermined, persistence, persistent, perseverance, determination
stiff-neckedflexible
Able to bend freely
yielding · open-minded · tractable · amenable · pliable
stiff-neckedhumble
Unassuming about oneself
meek · modest · lowly · unpretentious · unassuming
stiff-neckedsubmissive
Readily yielding to control
docile · obedient · passive · deferential · subservient
stiff, stiffness, stiffly, stiffer, stiffs, stiffest, stiffies