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Reluctant vs Stubborn - What's the difference?

reluctant | stubborn |

As adjectives the difference between reluctant and stubborn

is that reluctant is opposing; offering resistance (to) while stubborn is refusing to move or to change one's opinion; obstinate; firmly resisting.

reluctant

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Opposing; offering resistance (to).
  • * 1819 , Lord Byron, Don Juan , II.108:
    • There, breathless, with his digging nails he clung / Fast to the sand, lest the returning wave, / From whose reluctant roar his life he wrung, / Should suck him back to her insatiate grave [...].
  • * 2008 , Kern Alexander et al., The World Trade Organization and Trade in Services , p. 222:
    • They are reluctant to the inclusion of a necessity test, especially of a horizontal nature, and emphasize, instead, the importance of procedural disciplines [...].
  • Not wanting to take some action; unwilling.
    • She was reluctant to lend him the money

    Synonyms

    * unwilling, disinclined

    Related terms

    * reluctance * reluctantly

    External links

    * * *

    stubborn

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Refusing to move or to change one's opinion; obstinate; firmly resisting.
    • He is pretty stubborn about his political beliefs, so why bother arguing?
    Blood can make a very stubborn stain on fabrics if not washed properly.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * stubbornly * stubbornness

    External links

    * * *