Unbowed says that someone has been beaten, punished or hit hard by life — and still has not given in. The picture is physical: to bow is to bend your head or body downwards, which is what a person does when they submit, apologise, or admit defeat. Someone unbowed never bent. So the word almost always comes after trouble, and it needs that trouble to make sense; you would not call a person unbowed on a normal good day. You will meet it most in news reports and speeches, very often in the fixed pair 'bloodied but unbowed' — hurt, but not surrendering. It usually sits after the noun or after a linking verb (he emerged unbowed; the party was defeated but unbowed) rather than in front of a noun. It is a strong, admiring word, and a formal, slightly grand one. Ordinary conversation says 'he didn't give up' instead.

不屈的、不低頭的（受挫後仍不服輸）。新聞常見的 bloodied but unbowed，中文語感接近「雖敗猶榮、依然不屈」。