What's the difference between obdurate and refractory?

Obdurate


Definition:

  • (a.) Hardened in feelings, esp. against moral or mollifying influences; unyielding; hard-hearted; stubbornly wicked.
  • (a.) Hard; harsh; rugged; rough; intractable.
  • (v. t.) To harden.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The system is not an obdurate one-man rule, but a balancing of power groups, including the military, government and internal security, all have different interests and policies.
  • (2) Both the Coalition and Labor are obdurately stuck with barbaric offshore detention policies, as though sensible, humane and politically viable alternatives are beyond them.
  • (3) For their part, the Israeli left accused Peres of acting as a figleaf for an obdurate Likud administration.
  • (4) Report on the temporary substitution of pharynx and upper oesophagus with synthetic skin substitute in case of incurable obdurating neck carcinoma.
  • (5) His team-mates were obdurate opponents in every respect.
  • (6) The fact that it was Johnson rather than Crow who had been obdurate was highlighted by the fact that TfL had all along planned to retain ticket-selling facilities at several busy stations, but, prompted by Johnson, had publicly suggested that they would all be closed.
  • (7) For the first time there were obvious signs of tension and, suddenly, this tough, obdurate West Bromwich side showed an attacking intent that simply had not been there earlier in the match.
  • (8) In the face of obdurate unreason, the president of hyper-reasonableness was forced to surrender.
  • (9) Underpinning the witty remarks and the textbook flippancy ("call me early, Goering dear, for I'm to be Queen of the May" was apparently Nancy's riposte to news of Diana and Unity's German adventures) though, was an absolute and obdurate self-belief; a self-possessed seriousness only partly disguised by sisterly teasing.
  • (10) Max from Earlsfield muses: "Admittedly terrible from Fab, a shame after 47 minutes of obdurate defence.
  • (11) This was a slog, a result ground out against ruggedly obdurate opposition , but Chelsea may end up gaining more satisfaction from prevailing in those awkward circumstances than from some of the more comfortable strolls they have enjoyed over a nine-match winning streak.
  • (12) Read more It was the third minute of stoppage time, and the cruellest of circumstances for this tough, obdurate Burnley side, when Arsenal’s possession finally paid off and the seemingly endless 20th-anniversary commemorations for Arsène Wenger were given a shot of euphoria that had not seemed like coming.
  • (13) Ireland were obdurate opponents but that does not fully explain the lack of quality that held back England once Frank Lampard had scored the 29th goal of his international career, 10 minutes after Shane Long's expertly taken header had given Giovanni Trapattoni's side an early lead.
  • (14) Russia's determination to defend wider spheres of traditional influence in the non-aligned and developing world can be seen in its obdurate refusal to penalise Syria, in the face of almost universal outrage over the crackdown there; and in its de facto defence of Iran's nuclear programme.
  • (15) It had needed some obdurate defending to keep the score down before Alves exchanged passes with the substitute Neymar and cut in from the right to slip his shot through Hart's legs.
  • (16) Republicans have been both obdurate and obtuse in Congress, where approval ratings have rarely scraped 20%.
  • (17) He is assertive (he insists on his photographer and dictates the terms of the interview), obdurate and, at times, wilfully contrary.
  • (18) We had an obdurate Labor party, a feckless Senate and a very difficult media culture,” Abbott said.
  • (19) In the years since those facts first became known, the story of the Holocaust has been told and retold, yet it still remains obdurately difficult to tell.
  • (20) Giles also remained obdurate and continued to refuse to resign even though he had only four supporters as against the conspirators’ nine.

Refractory


Definition:

  • (a.) Obstinate in disobedience; contumacious; stubborn; unmanageable; as, a refractory child; a refractory beast.
  • (a.) Resisting ordinary treatment; difficult of fusion, reduction, or the like; -- said especially of metals and the like, which do not readily yield to heat, or to the hammer; as, a refractory ore.
  • (n.) A refractory person.
  • (n.) Refractoriness.
  • (n.) OPottery) A piece of ware covered with a vaporable flux and placed in a kiln, to communicate a glaze to the other articles.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) During electrophysiologic study, the effect of propafenone on the effective refractory period of the accessory pathway was determined, as well as its effect during orthodromic atrioventricular (AV) reentrant tachycardia and atrial fibrillation.
  • (2) Some evidence has shown that platelet crossmatching is useful in multitransfused patients with hypoplastic bone marrows who are refractory to platelet therapy through alloimmunization.
  • (3) The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of pretreatment with indomethacin on the refractory period to hypertonic saline-induced bronchoconstriction.
  • (4) This quantitative characterization of the properties of conduction and refractoriness of both the accessory pathway and ventriculoatrial conduction system and the relation between these characteristics and the accessory pathway location in ART patients provides additional insight into the prerequisites for the initiation and maintenance of this rhythm disturbance.
  • (5) Lisinopril increases cardiac output, and decreases pulmonary capillary wedge pressure and mean arterial pressure in patients with congestive heart failure refractory to conventional treatment with digitalis and diuretics.
  • (6) Extracorporeal photopheresis (ExP) was administered every other week in an outpatient setting to four patients with chronic refractory psoriasis vulgaris without arthropathy.
  • (7) Populations of B. globosus and B. nasutus from Dar es Salaam were refractory.
  • (8) When caffeine evokes a contraction, and only then, crayfish muscle fibers become refractory to a second challenge with caffeine for up to 20 min in the standard saline (5 mM K(o)).
  • (9) We present in this preliminary report the early results of therapy for refractory leukemia with an intensive preparative regimen for bone marrow transplantation including etoposide, cytosine arabinoside, cyclophosphamide, and fractionated total body irradiation.
  • (10) Amiodarone was able to suppress the premature ventricular beats, depress conduction and prolong refractoriness in both, the AV node and accessory pathway to prevent recurrences of atrioventricular reentry.
  • (11) Once initiated, this refractory state continues to develop even after removal of the light source and is essentially complete within 30 min.
  • (12) At lower frequencies of stimulation the heart beat is increased to rates dependent on interaction between the time course of the hyperpolarization and the refractory period of the heart.
  • (13) The results indicate that the conditions which inhibit the initiation of development are present in the Malpighian tubules and not in the midgut of the refractory mosquitoes.
  • (14) Parenteral cyclophosphamide or corticosteroid pulses should be reserved for cases with vasculitis or refractoriness to conventional drugs.
  • (15) These data suggest that in terms of prolactin release, prolactin producing tumour cells are intrinsically refractory to hypo thalamic dopaminergic signals.
  • (16) Pirmenol increased the atrial effective refractory period, but had little effect on conduction in the atrioventricular node and His-Purkinje system.
  • (17) Estramustine phosphate may be given safely for a prolonged period and has a place in the treatment of advanced prostatic cancer refractory to hormonal therapy.
  • (18) One or more of the followin factors were present in the "high-risk" group: ventricular dysfunction--ejection fraction less than 0.4, preinfarction angina, evolving infarction, recent infarction (less than 2 weeks), and refractory ventricular tachyarrhythmia.
  • (19) Although video urodynamics is the state-of-the-art modality for evaluating complex or refractory neurogenic bladder, the practicing radiologist with an understanding of this condition can detect many radiographic changes in the lower urinary tract that suggest neurogenic dysfunction of various types.
  • (20) Tinidazole (not available in the United States) may be effective in curing refractory cases of metronidazole resistance.