Word of the Day:

September 3, 2026

recalcitrant

adjective rih-KAL-suh-trunt

What it Means

Recalcitrant is a formal word typically used to describe someone who stubbornly refuses to obey rules or orders. Recalcitrant can also describe something that is difficult to manage or operate.

// The magazine, aimed at parents and caregivers of young children, will include the latest in child development science as well as practical information, like tricks for persuading even the most recalcitrant toddler to cooperate.

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Recalcitrant in Context

“One particularly recalcitrant driver … managed to rack up 29 speeding tickets during the 10-school-day span.” — Dave Werner, The Press-Republican (Plattsburgh, New York), 20 May 2026

More example sentences

Did You Know?

When given an order or command, a recalcitrant person (or animal) digs in their heels. They will not give an inch, so to speak, immovable in their determination to defy the rules. This makes a great deal of sense, etymologically, as recalcitrant traces back to calx, the Latin word for “heel.” (Calx is also responsible for such English words as calcaneus, “the large bone of the human heel,” and—mention this at your next pizza party—calzone.) From calx, Latin users formed first the verb calcitrare (“to kick”) and then recalcitrare (“to kick back”). In Late Latin, recalcitrare was used figuratively to mean “to be stubbornly disobedient,” leading to the English adjective we apply today to stubborn mules both human and asinine.