recusant
Americanadjective
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refusing to submit, comply, etc.
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obstinate in refusal.
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English History. refusing to attend services of the Church of England.
noun
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a person who is recusant.
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English History. a person, especially a Roman Catholic, who refused to attend the services of the Church of England.
noun
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(in 16th to 18th century England) a Roman Catholic who did not attend the services of the Church of England, as was required by law
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any person who refuses to submit to authority
adjective
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(formerly, of Catholics) refusing to attend services of the Church of England
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refusing to submit to authority
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of recusant
1545–55; < Latin recūsant- (stem of recūsāns ), present participle of recusāre to demur, object, equivalent to re- re- + -cūsāre, verbal derivative of causa cause; see -ant
Explanation
Someone who refuses to participate in a socially expected activity (especially when they decline to go to church) is a recusant. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, anyone who broke church rules by refusing to attend services would be labeled a recusant by the Church of England. Today, a recusant might defy authority in other ways: "Once again, the recusants ignored my instructions to get in line after recess." Or use the word as an adjective, like when your recusant brother refuses to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. The Latin root is recusare, "decline, refuse, or reject."
Vocabulary lists containing recusant
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Being a Recusant, he was much persecuted for his religion, and never succeeded in finishing the work.
From Vanishing England by Ditchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)
Recusant, rek′ū-zant, or rē-kū′zant, adj. obstinate in refusal, esp. to comply with the Anglican ritual.—n. a nonconformist: one who refuses to acknowledge the supremacy of the sovereign in religious matters.—ns.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various
He has had attributed to him a Premonition to Princes; A Dialogue, in 1609, between a Jesuit and a Recusant; A Discourse on Spanish Cruelties to Moral and Metaphysical Essays.
From Sir Walter Ralegh A Biography by Stebbing, W. (William)
Does the fact that the Foundress was presented as a Recusant mean nothing?
From The Life and Times of John Wilkins Warden of Wadham college, Oxford; master of Trinity college, Cambridge; and Bishop of Chester by Wright Henderson, P. A. (Patrick Arkley)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
