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Constancy vs Obstinacy - What's the difference?

constancy | obstinacy |

As nouns the difference between constancy and obstinacy

is that constancy is the quality of being constant; steadiness or faithfulness in action, affections, purpose, etc while obstinacy is the state, or an act, of stubbornness or doggedness.

constancy

English

Noun

(constancies)
  • (uncountable) The quality of being constant; steadiness or faithfulness in action, affections, purpose, etc.
  • * 1871 , , Descent of Man , ch. 7 "On the Races of Man,"
    • Constancy of character is what is chiefly valued and sought for by naturalists.
  • (countable) An unchanging quality or characteristic of a person or thing.
  • * 1602 , , All's Well That Ends Well , act 1, sc. 2,
    • younger spirits . . .
    whose constancies
    Expire before their fashions.

    Related terms

    * constant * constantly

    References

    * * * * Oxford English Dictionary , 2nd ed., 1989. * Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary , 1987-1996.

    obstinacy

    English

    Noun

  • The state, or an act, of stubbornness or doggedness.
    • He finished only through a mixture of determined obstinacy and ingenuity.

    Synonyms

    * See also