Skip to content

entêter

to make stubborn

verb ahn-teh-TEH Rare
Mind & Emotions Attitudes

Also means

to obsess (intoxicate with a smell)

Usage Note

Entêter comes from tête ('head'), with the sense of something going to one's head. It is most commonly used reflexively — s'entêter means 'to persist stubbornly' or 'to dig one's heels in'. The related adjective entêté ('stubborn, pig-headed') is very common in everyday French. A near-synonym for s'entêter is s'obstiner.

Examples

"Il s'entête à refuser toute aide."

Natural Translation

He stubbornly refuses all help.

Literal Translation

He digs his heels in to refuse all help.

Free starter pack

Building your French vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common French words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore French by topic