Recalcitrate

//ɹɪˈkælsɪtɹeɪt// verb

verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To kick back; to kick against anything. intransitive

    "[The National Assembly] has to hear of innumerable fresh revolts, Brigand expeditions; of Chateaus in the West, especially of Charter-chests, Chartiers, set on fire; for there too the overloaded Ass frightfully recalcitrates."

  2. 2
    show strong objection or repugnance; manifest vigorous opposition or resistance; be obstinately disobedient wordnet
  3. 3
    To express repugnance or opposition. broadly, transitive

    "The more one was indignant at being the object of such a man's contempt, the more heartily did one disdain his disdain, and recalcitrate his kicks."

Synonyms

All synonyms
backfireboomerangbouncebounce backboundcannon

Example

More examples

"[The National Assembly] has to hear of innumerable fresh revolts, Brigand expeditions; of Chateaus in the West, especially of Charter-chests, Chartiers, set on fire; for there too the overloaded Ass frightfully recalcitrates."

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.