recalcitrant
adjective
G. G. Simpson
Did you know?
Long before any human was dubbed "recalcitrant" in English (that first occurred in the 18th century), there were stubborn mules (and horses) kicking back their heels. The ancient Romans noted as much (Pliny the Elder among them), and they had a word for it: recalcitrare, which literally means "to kick back." (Its root calc-, meaning "heel," is also the root of calcaneus, the large bone of the heel in humans.) Certainly Roman citizens in Pliny's time were sometimes willful and hardheaded—as attested by various Latin words meaning "stubborn"—but it wasn't until later that writers of Late Latin applied recalcitrare and its derivative adjective to humans who were stubborn as mules.
Synonyms
Examples of recalcitrant in a Sentence
Gina Kolata, New York Times Book Review, 7 Sept. 1997
For anyone who has ever struggled to extract a recalcitrant cork from a bottle … the value of a good corkscrew is a given.
—Ettagale Blauer, Wine Spectator, 31 Oct. 1996
In November 1891, James Naismith, a 32-year-old Canadian-born instructor at the International Y.M.C.A. Training School in Springfield, was asked to invent an indoor game to help tame the members of a recalcitrant gym class.
—Scott Ellsworth, New York Times, 29 May 1994
George and I were down in a trench hacking at one particularly recalcitrant oak carcass when a local farmer pulled up in his truck.
—P. J. O'Rourke, Republican Party Reptile, 1987
You are not the kind of person who beats on recalcitrant vending machines.
—Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City, 1984
the manager worried that the recalcitrant employee would try to undermine his authority
a heart-to-heart talk with the recalcitrant youth revealed that he had a troubled life at home
Brian Bennett, TIME, 2 Nov. 2024
Just as most sectors of white-collar management have proved more recalcitrant to de-skilling than manual labor, so too the intellectual work of the art historian and critic has taken somewhat longer to de-skill than its avant-garde counterparts.15 But for Buchloh, that moment has come.
—Gordon Hughes, Artforum, 1 Nov. 2024
Moreover, reading Powers in this more difficult, demanding way affirms the imperative that Literature—recalcitrant in its ideas, characters, and storylines—should invite and sustain more of and from its readers.
—Randy Boyagoda, The Atlantic, 17 Oct. 2024
Leaders in more recalcitrant countries must understand that their inaction will adversely affect their relationship with the United States.
—Steven Herz, Foreign Affairs, 25 Nov. 2020
See all Example Sentences for recalcitrant 
Dictionary Entries Near recalcitrant
Cite this Entry
“Recalcitrant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/recalcitrant. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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recalcitrant
adjective
Medical Definition
recalcitrant
adjective
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