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adamantine

Diction
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Extremely hard or unbreakable; like adamant. In poetry, it often suggests something rigid and impossible to change.

Detailed Definition
Adamantine is a literary word meaning made of adamant, or very hard and unyielding. Emerson uses it to make the Past seem sealed off and impossible to force open. The word gives the door a cold, permanent, almost mineral quality.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Flies—to the adamantine door” uses adamantine for diamond-hard or unyielding; “An adamantine gate shut out the dawn” emphasizes impenetrability; Miltonic or epic diction often uses the word for supernatural hardness; “Her adamantine resolve” extends the image to a will that cannot be bent
Additional Notes
In the line "Flies-to the adamantine door," this adjective is a rare literary word that most readers would need to look up.; Found in the poem, The Past by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Also Known As
unyielding unbreakable inflexible steadfast
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