headstrong

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English hedstrong,^[2][3] formed from Middle English hed (“head”) + strong (“strong”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Etymonline compares Old English hēafodbald (“impudent, literally head-bold”), and notes that strongheaded is attested from about 1600.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Stubborn, not to be ruled: before 1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus, An yuel seruaunt is froward & heedstrong, rendering Latin ceruicosus.^[3][5] Etymonline likewise has the late 14th century,^[4] and Dictionary.com 1350–1400.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The OED's first sense covers both people and animals,^[5] and by 1571 it could also describe behaviour or qualities that show wilfulness.^[5][6] Johnson (1755) explained it as resolved to run one's own way, "as a horse whose head cannot be held in", and quoted Hooker's "headstrong and inconsiderate zeal" and Milton's "headstrong multitudes".^[8] The noun headstrongness dates from the early 17th century and the adverb headstrongly, long rare or obsolete, from the mid 17th.^[6]

Timeline

• before 1398 – of a person, obstinate, self-willed.^[5][3]
• 1571 – of behaviour or qualities, marked by wilfulness.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Bent on getting one's way; stubborn, wilful and hard to restrain: a headstrong colt that no rider could manage.^{[9][10][2][5]}
2. Of an action, coming from wilfulness and obstinacy; rash: her headstrong refusal of every offer of help.^{[9][10][2][5]}

Word family

• headstrongly
• headstrongness

Related words

• head
• strong
• strongheaded
• headlong

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins