adj.
Pronunciation: -tr ə nt
Function: adjective
Etymology: Late Latin recalcitrant-, recalcitrans, present participle of recalcitrare to be stubbornly disobedient, from Latin, to kick back, from re- + calcitrare to kick, from calc-, calx heel
Date: 1843
1 : obstinately defiant of authority or restraint
2 a : difficult to manage or operate b : not responsive to treatment c : RESISTANT <this subject is recalcitrant both to observation and to experiment ― G. G. Simpson>
synonyms see UNRULY
– recalcitrant noun