obstinate; stubborn; headstrong; self-centered
Describes a person who is rigidly self-willed, narrow-minded, and unwilling to compromise. Literary and somewhat old-fashioned; in modern speech, 頑固 or 意地っ張り are more common.
He has an obstinate personality and won't listen to others' opinions.
The stubborn old man refused to change his ways.
stubbornly independent; sticking to one's convictions
stubbornly conservative; narrow-minded and obstinate
stubborn and aloof; proudly independent
Literary kanji compound; rarely used in modern writing. The kana spelling けんかい is more practical for learners.
Kana spelling is common in modern usage, as the kanji are obscure.
The kanji 狷 (narrow-minded, obstinate) and 介 (shell, mediate) combine to suggest a rigid, self-contained character. The exact historical derivation is uncertain; the word is a literary Sino-Japanese compound.