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Wiktionary

recalcitrant

See also: récalcitrant

English

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WOTD – 13 September 2011

Etymology

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Borrowed from French récalcitrant, from Latin recalcitrāns, recalcitrantis, present participle of recalcitrō, recalcitrāre (“be disobedient, kick back [as a horse]”), from calx (“heel”), 1820s.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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recalcitrant (comparative more recalcitrant, superlative most recalcitrant)

  1. Marked by a stubborn unwillingness to obey authority.
    • 1908, Edith Wharton, “In Trust”, in The Hermit and the Wild Woman and Other Stories:
      His nimble fancy was recalcitrant to mental discipline.
    • 1914, P. G. Wodehouse, Death at the Excelsior:
      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.
    • 1959 June 8, “Kenya: The Hola Scandal”, in Time:
      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."
  2. Unwilling to cooperate socially.
  3. Difficult to deal with or to operate.
    • 2003, Robert G. Wetzel, “Solar radiation as an ecosystem modulator”, in E. Walter Helbling, Horacio Zagarese, editors, UV Effects in Aquatic Organisms and Ecosystems, page 13:
      The more labile organic constituents of complex dissolved and particulate organic matter are commonly hydrolyzed and metabolized more rapidly than more recalcitrant organic compounds that are less accessible enzymatically.
    • 2004, Derek W. Urwin, Germany: From Geographical Expression to Regional Accommodation, in Michael Keating (editor), Regions and Regionalism in Europe, page 47:
      The Hansa had no legal status, independent finances or a common institutional framework, while the major weapon against recalcitrant members (or opponents) was the threat of embargo.
    • 2006, Janet Pierrehumbert, “Syllable structure and word structure: a study of triconsonantal clusters in English”, in Patricia A. Keating, editor, Phonological Structure and Phonetic Form, page 179:
      Particularly recalcitrant examples which made it impossible to remove actual words while maintaining the balance of the set were resolved by altering a consonant in the base word to create a new base form.
    • 2010, Brian J. Hall, John C. Hall, Sauer's Manual of Skin Diseases, page 251:
      However, when a clinician is faced with a more recalcitrant case, it is important to remember to ask the patient whether psychological, social, or occupational stress might be contributing to the activity of the skin disorder.
    • 2014 May 11, Ivan Hewett, “Piano Man: a Life of John Ogdon by Charles Beauclerk, review: A new biography of the great British pianist whose own genius destroyed him [print version: A colossus off-key, 10 May 2014, p. R27]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review)‎[1]:
      The temptation is to regard him [John Ogdon] as an idiot savant, a big talent bottled inside a recalcitrant body and accompanied by a personality that seems not just unremarkable, but almost entirely blank.
  4. (botany, of seed, pollen, spores) Not viable for an extended period; damaged by drying or freezing.

Synonyms

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See also Thesaurus:obstinate

Antonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun

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recalcitrant (plural recalcitrants)

  1. A person who is recalcitrant.

Translations

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Dutch

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French récalcitrant, from Middle French recalcitrant, from Latin recalcitrāns.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˌreː.kɑl.siˈtrɑnt/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: re‧cal‧ci‧trant
  • Rhymes: -ɑnt

Adjective

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recalcitrant (comparative recalcitranter, superlative recalcitrantst)

  1. recalcitrant
    Synonym: weerspannig

Declension

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Declension of recalcitrant
uninflected recalcitrant
inflected recalcitrante
comparative recalcitranter
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial recalcitrant recalcitranter het recalcitrantst
het recalcitrantste
indefinite m./f. sing. recalcitrante recalcitrantere recalcitrantste
n. sing. recalcitrant recalcitranter recalcitrantste
plural recalcitrante recalcitrantere recalcitrantste
definite recalcitrante recalcitrantere recalcitrantste
partitive recalcitrants recalcitranters —

Latin

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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recalcitrant

  1. third-person plural present active indicative of recalcitrō

Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French récalcitrant.

Adjective

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recalcitrant m or n (feminine singular recalcitrantă, masculine plural recalcitranți, feminine and neuter plural recalcitrante)

  1. recalcitrant

Declension

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singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative/
accusative 		indefinite recalcitrant recalcitrantă recalcitranți recalcitrante
definite recalcitrantul recalcitranta recalcitranții recalcitrantele
genitive/
dative 		indefinite recalcitrant recalcitrante recalcitranți recalcitrante
definite recalcitrantului recalcitrantei recalcitranților recalcitrantelor
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