Meanings
plural recalcitrances
- countableuncountableThe state of being recalcitrant.
Such evaluation, abstracted from historical necessity, was in Hegel's opinion a symptom of the sterile recalcitrance of Fichte and the Romantics.
1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume I: The Founders, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: powstanie (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 781 more example
But the prime minister’s [Benjamin Netanyahu's] recalcitrance on the subject of a future Palestinian state, long a Saudi condition, is being faulted as one of the reasons Israel is missing out on this opportunity.
2025 May 14, Dina Kraft, “As Trump visits Mideast, Netanyahu’s government is wary of surprises”, in The Christian Science Monitor
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe trait of being unmanageable
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchrécalcitrance
- Englishrecalcitrance
In use since at least 1856 (Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, published 1985). From French récalcitrance.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French récalcitrance
- récalcitrancestate of being recalcitrant
Italian recalcitranza
- recalcitranzastate of being recalcitrant
Polish krnąbrność, nieposłuszność
- krnąbrnośćstate of being recalcitrant
- nieposłusznośćstate of being recalcitrant
Cite this entry
recalcitrance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recalcitrance
“recalcitrance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recalcitrance. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “recalcitrance,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recalcitrance.
Source: recalcitrance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.