Select the most appropriate synonym of the given word: INTRANSIGENT

Correct — C. Intransigent describes someone who refuses to change their views or to compromise, however hard they are pressed.

Stubborn names the same refusal to give way. Both are adjectives describing a person, so sense and form match → option (c).

The root helps if the word is new: Latin transigere, 'to come to an agreement', the root of transact. The prefix in- negates it: not willing to come to terms.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Willing — Willing means ready and prepared to do what is asked. An intransigent person is the reverse: unwilling to move from a position.
• (b)
  Compliant — Compliant means inclined to agree with others or obey rules. It describes the yielding an intransigent person refuses, so it is an antonym.
• (d)
  Submissive — Submissive means ready to yield to someone else's authority. It sits at the far end from intransigent, which describes someone who will not yield at all.

A synonym item turns on the word's core sense. For intransigent that sense is a refusal to compromise, as in an intransigent attitude at the negotiating table.

Sort the options by direction before choosing. Willing, Compliant and Submissive all describe someone who gives way. Stubborn is the one option describing someone who does not.

When three options agree with each other and oppose the fourth, check which side the given word is on.

Key facts

• Intransigent means unwilling to change one's views or to agree, refusing to compromise.
• It comes, through French and Spanish, from Latin in- 'not' + transigere 'to come to an agreement'.
• Its noun is intransigence.
• Willing, compliant and submissive all describe yielding, the opposite of intransigent.

Common traps

• Picking Compliant or Submissive because they are about the same subject, without checking which way they point
• Confusing intransigent with intransitive, the grammar term for a verb that takes no object

No directly related past PYQ was found.