RECALCITRANT: "Marked by stubborn resistance to authority"

By MsW


"Recalcitrant" is an adjective used to describe a person or thing that is stubbornly resistant to authority, control, or guidance, often displaying a defiant or uncooperative attitude.

Etymology: "Recalcitrant" originated in the early 19th century, borrowing from the Latin word "recalcitrantem," which means "to kick back." It combines "re-" (back) and "calcitrare" (to kick), reflecting a sense of resisting control.

Sample sentences:

  1. Despite numerous warnings, the recalcitrant student refused to follow the classroom rules.

  2. The company faced difficulties due to a few recalcitrant employees who resisted all attempts at change.

  3. The politician's recalcitrant stance on the issue made compromise impossible.

  4. Dealing with a recalcitrant computer that refuses to cooperate can be frustrating.

  5. The team struggled with the project because of the recalcitrant nature of the outdated machinery they were using.

Synonyms for "recalcitrant" include: defiant, obstinate, unruly, stubborn, rebellious, unyielding.

Antonyms could be: compliant, cooperative, submissive, obedient, tractable.

"recalcitrant toddler"















"the University suspended the most recalcitrant demonstrators" 


clipped from dictionary.reference.com
recalcitrant \rih-KAL-sih-truhnt\, adjective:
Stubbornly resistant to and defiant of authority or restraint.
This recalcitrant fellow was the only dissenter in an otherwise unanimous recommendation.
-- Sherwin B. Nuland, "Indoctrinology",  New Republic, February 19, 2001
If they lingered too long, Clarice hurried them along in the same annoyed way she rushed recalcitrant goats through the gate.
-- Kaye Gibbons, On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon
As Mr. Lincoln and his Union generals insisted on unconditional surrender, the end of slavery, and the specter of an egalitarian nation where race and class were in theory to be subordinate ideas, so recalcitrant Southerners by the summer of 1864 dug in deeper for their Armageddon to come.
-- Victor Davis Hanson, The Soul Of Battle
Recalcitrant derives from Latin recalcitrare, "to kick back," from re-, "back" + calcitrare, "to strike with the heel, to kick," from calx, calc-, "the heel."
 

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