頑がん冥めい不ふ霊れい

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ん

め

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ふ

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Meanings

1

noun, na-adjective

stubborn and ignorant

yojijukugo (four-character idiom)

A yojijukugo describing someone who is obstinate and refuses to listen to reason, combined with ignorance or lack of understanding. Rare and literary; not used in everyday conversation.

彼かれの頑がん冥めい不ふ霊れいな態たい度どには手てを焼やいた。
I was at my wits' end with his stubborn and ignorant attitude.

頑stubborn, foolish, firmly

冥dark

不negative, non-, bad

霊spirits, soul

Similar words

頑がん固こ
頑固 means simply 'stubborn', while 頑冥不霊 adds the nuance of ignorance or lack of understanding.
無む知ち
無知 means 'ignorant' without the strong connotation of stubbornness.

Etymology

A yojijukugo combining 頑冥 (stubborn, obstinate) and 不霊 (not intelligent, dull). The exact historical derivation is uncertain; it is a literary compound used to describe a person who is both obstinate and ignorant.