recalcitrant

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.

adj

1. Marked by a stubborn unwillingness to obey authority.
   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
   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." June 8 1959, “Kenya: The Hola Scandal”, in Time
2. Unwilling to cooperate socially.
3. Difficult to deal with or to operate.
   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. 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 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. 2004, Derek W. Urwin, Germany: From Geographical Expression to Regional Accommodation, in Michael Keating (editor), Regions and Regionalism in Europe, page 47
   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. 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
   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. 2010, Brian J. Hall, John C. Hall, Sauer's Manual of Skin Diseases, page 251
   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. 11 May 2014, 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)
4. (botany, of seed, pollen, spores) Not viable for an extended period; damaged by drying or freezing.

noun

1. A person who is recalcitrant.