[re.cal.ci.trant] adj [LL recalcitrant-, recalcitrans, prp. of recalcitrare to be stubbornly disobedient, fr. L, to kick back, fr. re- + calcitrare to kick, fr. calc-, calx heel] (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 ~ both to observation and to experiment --G. G. Simpson" syn see unruly -- recalcitrant n