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.
狷介な老人は、自分のやり方を変えようとしなかった。
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.