widerstreben

German

Etymology

wider- +‎ streben

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /viːdɐˈʃtʁeːbn̩/
  • Hyphenation: wi‧der‧stre‧ben
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

widerstreben (weak, third-person singular present widerstrebt, past tense widerstrebte, past participle widerstrebt, auxiliary haben)

  1. [with dative] to be reluctant to, to show some reluctance, to go against the grain with someone (contrary to one's nature)
    Synonym: zuwider sein
    Es widerstrebte ihm, den Anweisungen Folge zu leisten.He was reluctant to follow the instructions.
    Es widerstrebte ihr ganz und gar.It went very much against the grain with her.
  2. (reflexive, higher register) to be opposed to, to resist, to go against [with dative ‘someone/something’]
    Synonyms: sich aufbegehren, sich opponieren, sich entgegentreten, sich widersetzen

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading