Recalcitrant Meaning
/ɹɪˈkæl.sɪ.tɹənt/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjMarked by a stubborn unwillingness to obey authority.
adjUnwilling to cooperate socially.
Sentence Examples
He's a recalcitrant boy.
The teacher struggled to manage the recalcitrant student in class.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ student refused to obey any classroom rules despite repeated warnings.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ student refused to complete any assignments despite repeated warnings from the teacher.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from French récalcitrant, in derived from Latin recalcitrāns, recalcitrantis, present participle of recalcitrō, recalcitrāre (“be disobedient, kick back [as a horse]”), from calx (“heel”), 1820s.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"His nimble fancy was recalcitrant to mental discipline."
— 1908, Edith Wharton, “In Trust”, in The Hermit and the Wild Woman and Other Stories:
"There was something in her manner so reminiscent of the school teacher reprimanding a recalcitrant pupil that Mr. Snyder's sense of humor came to his rescue."
— 1914, P. G. Wodehouse, Death at the Excelsior:
"The incentive to this first-class performance was a 14 min. late start from Hellifield, due to a recalcitrant van door which could not be properly secured."
— 1958 August 26, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 560:
"Kenya's official "Cowan Plan," named after a colonial prison administrator, decreed that recalcitrant prisoners "be manhandled to the site and forced to carry out the task.""
— 1959 June 8, “Kenya: The Hola Scandal”, in Time:
"Once pregnant, women were typically kept at hard labor until until their fifth month and recalcitrant pregnant women were made to lie in trenches that accommodated their bellies so that they could be beaten without harming the unborn child."
— 2008, Harriet A. Washington, “Southern Discomfort”, in Medical Apartheid, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, page 63:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ student refused to obey any classroom rules despite repeated warnings.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ student refused to complete any assignments despite repeated warnings from the teacher.