contumacious

[ kon-too-mey-shuhs, -tyoo- ]

/ ˌkɒn tʊˈmeɪ ʃəs, -tyʊ- /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR contumacious ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

stubbornly perverse or rebellious; willfully and obstinately disobedient.

Nearby words

controlling image, controlling interest, controversial, controversy, controvert, contumacious, contumacy, contumely, contuse, contused wound, contusion

Origin of contumacious

First recorded in 1590–1600; contumacy + -ous

SYNONYMS FOR contumacious

contrary, pigheaded, factious, refractory, headstrong, intractable.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR contumacious ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

con·tu·ma·cious·ly, adverbcon·tu·ma·cious·ness, con·tu·mac·i·ty

[kon-too-mas-i-tee, -tyoo-] /ˌkɒn tʊˈmæs ɪ ti, -tyʊ-/, nounnon·con·tu·ma·cious, adjectivenon·con·tu·ma·cious·ly, adverb

non·con·tu·ma·cious·ness, nounun·con·tu·ma·cious, adjectiveun·con·tu·ma·cious·ly, adverbun·con·tu·ma·cious·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for contumacious

Contumacious refers to a proud and insolent defiance of authority, as of the summons of a court.
English Synonyms and Antonyms|James Champlin Fernald
He would stay until this pot of contumacious fact came to the boil, overflowed, and scalded him out.
Garrison's Finish|W. B. M. Ferguson
He was contumacious and refused to appear when summoned to abjure.
A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume III|Henry Charles Lea
“If we cannot make this contumacious rascal speak, we will find others more tractable,” observed the pursuivant.
Guy Fawkes|William Harrison Ainsworth

She had never before encountered a clergyman so contumacious, so indecent, so unreverend,—so upsetting.
The Last Chronicle of Barset|Anthony Trollope

British Dictionary definitions for contumacious

contumacious

/ (ˌkɒntjʊˈmeɪʃəs) /

adjective

stubbornly resistant to authority; wilfully obstinate

Derived Forms

contumaciously, adverbcontumaciousness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012