recalcitrant

See also: récalcitrant

English

WOTD – 13 September 2011

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈkæl.sɪ.tɹənt/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Adjective

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)‎:

     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

• (stubbornly unwilling to obey authority): argumentative, defiant, disobedient, rebellious
• (difficult to operate or deal with): stubborn, unruly, adversarial, obstreperous, intransigent

See also Thesaurus:obstinate

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “stubbornly unwilling to obey authority”): compliant, obedient
• (antonym(s) of “difficult to operate or deal with”): amenable, cooperative, eager
• (antonym(s) of “not viable for long period”): orthodox

Derived terms

• recalcitrance
• recalcitrancy
• recalcitrantly

Translations

marked by a stubborn unwillingness to obey figures of authority

Bulgarian: непокорен (bg) (nepokoren), своеволен (bg) (svoevolen) Chinese: Cantonese: 桀驁不馴嘅 / 桀骜不驯嘅 (git6 ngou4 bat1 seon4 ge3) Dutch: weerbarstig (nl), weerspannig (nl), recalcitrant (nl) Esperanto: obstina (eo) Finnish: uppiniskainen (fi) French: rebelle (fr) German: widerspenstig (de), störrisch (de), bockig (de), aufsässig (de), trotzig (de), renitent (de), hartnäckig (de), dickköpfig (de), aufmüpfig (de) Icelandic: þverúðarfullur Manx: neuwooiagh Norwegian: trassig Polish: krnąbrny (pl), nieposłuszny (pl) Russian: непоко́рный (ru) (nepokórnyj), упо́рный (ru) (upórnyj) Spanish: recalcitrante (es), contumaz (es) Swedish: motspänstig (sv), motsträvig (sv) Turkish: itaat etmez, serkeş (tr), söz dinlemez Ukrainian: непокірний m (nepokirnyj), неслухняний m (nesluxnjanyj) Urdu: باغی (bāġī)

hard to deal with or operate

Bulgarian: меудобен (meudoben) Danish: genstridig, stædig (da) Dutch: koppig (nl), onhandelbaar (nl), tegenstrijdig (nl) Finnish: itsepintainen (fi) German: stur (de), eigensinnig (de), störrisch (de), unbequem (de), aufmüpfig (de), aufsässig (de), unkooperativ, hartnäckig (de), spröde (de), bockig (de) Icelandic: þrjóskur Norwegian: gjenstridig Polish: uparty (pl) Russian: сто́йкий (ru) (stójkij), про́чный (ru) (próčnyj) Spanish: recalcitrante, contumaz Swedish: enveten (sv), hårdnackad (sv) Turkish: aksi (tr), ters (tr) Ukrainian: непіддатливий m (nepiddatlyvyj), стійкий m (stijkyj)

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

French: (please verify) récalcitrant (fr) Italian: (please verify) ricalcitrante (it) Swedish: (please verify) svårkuvad West Frisian: (please verify) dôfhûdich

Noun

recalcitrant (plural recalcitrants)

1. A person who is recalcitrant.

Translations

A person who is recalcitrant

German: Dickkopf (de) m, Querulant (de) m, Trotzkopf (de) m, Störer (de) m, Störenfried (de) m Polish: uparciuch (pl) m

Dutch

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌreː.kɑl.siˈtrɑnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: re‧cal‧ci‧trant
• Rhymes: -ɑnt

Adjective

recalcitrant (comparative recalcitranter, superlative recalcitrantst)

1. recalcitrant

   Synonym: weerspannig

Declension

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

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [rɛˈkaɫ.kɪ.trant]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [reˈkal̠ʲ.t͡ʃi.t̪ran̪t̪]

Verb

recalcitrant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of recalcitrō

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French récalcitrant.

Adjective

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

1. recalcitrant

Declension

Declension of recalcitrant

		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