What's the difference between inflexibility and obstinacy?

Inflexibility


Definition:

  • (n.) The quality or state of being inflexible, or not capable of being bent or changed; unyielding stiffness; inflexibleness; rigidity; firmness of will or purpose; unbending pertinacity; steadfastness; resoluteness; unchangeableness; obstinacy.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) In current practice, some of the goals cannot be met; they should be considered as targets worthy of achievement, not as inflexible criteria of acceptance or rejection of methods.
  • (2) These words reflect a departure from Ankara's recent inflexibility, which led the country to freeze relations with Brussels during the Cypriot presidency of the EU in 2012.
  • (3) This results in patterns of inflexibility and weakness that can be demonstrated on a tennis-specific musculoskeletal exam, and that can be correlated with areas of increased injury occurrence.
  • (4) Perforation at the physiologically narrow sites of the esophagus is a wellknown mechanism as is the use of inflexible polyethylen tubes containing a mandrin.
  • (5) Postural instability was associated with abnormal patterns of postural responses including excessive antagonist activity and inflexibility in adapting to changing support conditions.
  • (6) It was only his inflexible determination, the quality that had made him a great general, that mastered the torments of ill-health – sleepless nights, fear of dying – to articulate his account for a devoted American audience.
  • (7) The day-to-day operation of the social security system (especially in universal credit) is crude, inflexible and too often oppressive .
  • (8) When we protect our old industries with subsidies and inflexible legislation, we risk losing all.
  • (9) Differences between groups were maintained across situations, and support the utility of conceptualizing personality disorders in terms of inflexible interpersonal styles.
  • (10) The inflexibility of the present system seems to be a major threat to the principle of regionalization.
  • (11) Wheras the guidelines may appear to be inflexible, they should not be considered as such.
  • (12) Traditional silicone prostheses have been found to be inflexible, heavy, and of poor color match when used on the limbs.
  • (13) When a mode of responding is adopted in noise, subjects are often rather inflexible and continue to use this strategy even though it is inappropriate.
  • (14) Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of the Guardian, said: "No individual newspaper editorial could hope to influence the outcome of Copenhagen but I hope the combined voice of 56 major papers speaking in 20 languages will remind the politicians and negotiators gathering there what is at stake and persuade them to rise above the rivalries and inflexibility that have stood in the way of a deal."
  • (15) Ipsa's guidelines on travel expenses suggest MPs should consider "value for money" and whether cheaper, inflexible tickets will end up costing more if travel arrangements change at short notice.
  • (16) We will make decisions based on real-world outcomes – not inflexible ideology,” Trump said.
  • (17) Seven dinucleoside monophosphates containing epsilonA (1,N6-ethenoadenosine) and 2'-O-methylcytidine were studied by 360-MHz proton magnetic resonance and compared with unmodified dimers and component monomers at 4, 20, 45, and 75 degrees C. These studies show that the dimers exhibit preference for the gg and g'g' conformations for the C-4'-C-5' and C-5'-O-5' bonds, respectively, and that dimerization induces an increase of the population and inflexibility of the 3'-endo conformations for the ribose ring.
  • (18) Because of its relative inflexibility, legislation cannot meet the challenge of the subtle and sensitive conflict of values under consideration, nor can it aid in the wise decision making by individuals which is required to assure optimum protection of subjects, together with the fullest effectiveness of research.
  • (19) It would be foolhardy to offer an inflexible step-care protocol for the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, given its heterogeneity and our uncertainty about its pathogenesis.
  • (20) Now researchers have developed a soft, flexible robot prototype inspired by starfish, worms and squid that overcomes some of the limitations of inflexible robots like Robbie.

Obstinacy


Definition:

  • (n.) A fixedness in will, opinion, or resolution that can not be shaken at all, or only with great difficulty; firm and usually unreasonable adherence to an opinion, purpose, or system; unyielding disposition; stubborness; pertinacity; persistency; contumacy.
  • (n.) The quality or state of being difficult to remedy, relieve, or subdue; as, the obstinacy of a disease or evil.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The individual number of pathological scores showed a decrease already within the first treatment week and a further decrease by the end of the trial, especially for the items of capriciousness, obstinacy, irritability and restlessness.
  • (2) Early on in the sessions for Five Leaves Left, Boyd discovered that Drake's silence served at times to conceal his deep-rooted obstinacy.
  • (3) Rather than obstinacy, we were suddenly met with a guarded kind of openness.
  • (4) From the early 1980s onwards, Margaret Thatcher and her governments embedded a new notion in the collective Tory mind, and British politics more widely: that politicians should be judged by their radicalism and obstinacy.
  • (5) I finally pull the tire off, and I look at the inside of the tire, and it reads: ‘Matsumoto Tire Company – We Are Obstinacy!’” I mention the tire, because it illuminates the experience of reading Paul Ryan’s brand-new don’t-call-it-a-campaign book, The Way Forward: an hours-long ordeal with an epistemically locked-shut Mad Libs thesaurus accident that ultimately says “screw you” as sunnily as possible.
  • (6) After all, unchecked obstinacy in the face of demands for change risks bringing down not just individual pillars of the establishment, but the entire system of power with them.
  • (7) The decline in shipbuilding here had its roots in poor management stretching back to the late 19th century, trade union obstinacy, and the rise after two world wars of foreign rivals who could produce much bigger ships more efficiently.
  • (8) A tireless fighter against apartheid, he defeated it with his courage, his obstinacy and his perseverance.
  • (9) Several US officials involved in Guantánamo issues saw Kelly’s hand in Pentagon obstinacy toward Obama’s plan to close the detention facility.
  • (10) "The reason why Osborne and Cable are tinkering at the edges and pressing the governor to take action is because their own political obstinacy and vanity is getting in the way of the need for fiscal action.
  • (11) Sharif's obstinacy in the face of army demands for North Waziristan to be dealt with before summer has exacerbated tensions between Pakistan's civilian and military leaderships, who have clashed over the treason trial of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.
  • (12) After Mr Obama’s lofty rhetoric ran up against the immovable obstinacy of an entrenched Republican-majority Congress, America may be ready for leadership by prose rather than through poetry.
  • (13) His obstinacy did not go down well with the committee, which had after all summoned him to shake an opinion out of him.
  • (14) The patient's wish or that of his companion are not sufficient, nor the lack of will or obstinacy.
  • (15) The grassroots movement to break away from Spain has strengthened alongside the obstinacy of the central government: while in 2010 one-fifth of Catalans supported independence, by 2013 the number hovered around half, according to Catalonia’s Centre for Opinion Studies.
  • (16) The consequences of the UK offering less than permanent protection of all the rights currently enjoyed by EU nationals, however, could lead to reciprocal obstinacy, including the deprivation of the rights of elderly Britons in Spain to free healthcare, one official warned.
  • (17) But "the impartial – UN operation in Ivory Coast and French – forces did African democracy a great service … by ousting a man who ... would only listen to his own obstinacy," Le Pays continued.
  • (18) In fact, they are simply imploding under the weight of their own obstinacy.
  • (19) It is the most egregious in terms of the length of time, concerns about his safety due to [previous] torture and the obstinacy of the Chinese government in refusing to provide any details."
  • (20) But the chicken-shop phenomenon is also about the glorious obstinacy of teenagers expressing their freedom through what little economic power they have.

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