mulish, a.
(ˈmjuːlɪʃ)
[f. mule + -ish.]
Characteristic of a mule; resembling a mule; intractable, stubborn. † Also, hybrid (obs.).
| 1751 Smollett Per. Pic. x, He was as inflexible and mulish as ever. 1765 Goldsm. Ess. xxxiv. Misc. Wks. 1837 I. 372 It will continue a kind of mulish production, with all the defects of its opposite parents. 1880 ‘Ouida’ Moths III. 15 Obstinate is no word for it, for she is mulish. |
¶ nonce-use. Pertaining to mules.
| a 1763 Byrom Ep. G. Lloyd iii. x, For Idæus directed the Mulish Machine While Horses drew that in which Priam was seen. |
Hence ˈmulishly adv., ˈmulishness.
| 1763 J. Wilkes N. Briton No. 46 A mulishness, which could never be conquered, rendered him the contempt of all. 1835 Booth Analyt. Dict. 323 A man of a sullen, obstinate temper is said..to act Mulishly. 1889 R. S. S. Baden-Powell Pigsticking 82 A mulishly obstinate horse. |