bullheaded

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

Also spelled bull-headed

US /ˈbʊlˌhɛdɪd/ UK /ˈbʊlˌhɛdɪd/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
obstinately and unreasonably stubborn

He was too bullheaded to admit he had taken a wrong turn.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · obstinately and... stubborn obstinate headstrong pigheaded mulish willful intransigent obdurate

Opposites

flexible compliant amenable docile tractable

Word family

Derived forms bullheadednessbullheadedly

Related forms bull headed

Etymology

A compound of bull + headed, evoking the brute stubbornness of a bull. Bull is from Middle English bole, of Germanic origin; head from Old English heafod.

bole Middle English heafod Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# bullheaded

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈbʊlˌhɛdɪd/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈbʊlˌhɛdɪd/

## Meanings
1. obstinately and unreasonably stubborn

## Examples
- He was too bullheaded to admit he had taken a wrong turn.

## Synonyms
- stubborn
- obstinate
- headstrong
- pigheaded
- mulish
- willful
- intransigent
- obdurate

## Antonyms
- flexible
- compliant
- amenable
- docile
- tractable

## Derived Forms
- bullheadedness
- bullheadedly

## Related Forms
- bull
- headed

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: bole
- Root: heafod

## Etymology
A compound of bull + headed, evoking the brute stubbornness of a bull. Bull is from Middle English bole, of Germanic origin; head from Old English heafod.

## AI Etymology
Bullheaded is a compound of bull + headed, evoking the brute stubbornness of a bull. Bull is from Middle English bole, of Germanic origin; head from Old English heafod. The historical trail runs through bole in Middle English and heafod in Old English. Morphologically, bullheaded is transparent: it is a compound of bull + headed, evoking the brute stubbornness of a bull. Used as an adjective, bullheaded now means "obstinately and unreasonably stubborn", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as bullheadedness and bullheadedly and related forms such as bull and headed. The modern word remains analyzable through its parts, which makes the semantic connection unusually direct.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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