contumacy

American  

[kon-too-muh-see, -tyoo-] / ˈkɒn tʊ mə si, -tyʊ- /

noun

plural

contumacies

1. stubborn perverseness or rebelliousness; willful and obstinate resistance or disobedience to authority.

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contumacy British  

/ ˈkɒntjʊməsɪ /

noun

1. obstinate and wilful rebelliousness or resistance to authority; insubordination; disobedience

2. the wilful refusal of a person to appear before a court or to comply with a court order

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Etymology

Origin of contumacy

1150–1200; Middle English contumacie < Latin contumācia, equivalent to contumāc-, stem of contumāx unyielding, stubborn ( con- con- + -tum- of uncertain sense, though connected by classical authors with both contemnere to regard with contempt and tumēre to swell) + -āx adj. suffix) + -ia -ia

Example Sentences

Shelley and Sir William Sirs: Shelley was dismissed for contumacy.

From Time Magazine Archive

"This is the most outrageous case of contumacy I have ever seen," bellowed Lawyer Rogge, obtaining a recess until March 20.

From Time Magazine Archive

She was "busted" out of Bryn Mawr for "deplorable contumacy of conduct."

From Time Magazine Archive

In the eye of the law this denial was mere contumacy which only aggravated his guilt.

From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume II by Lea, Henry Charles

As a punishment I made him keep up the pace even when he was tired of his contumacy, and in less than no time I reached Shibets, ten miles distant from where I had started.

From Alone with the Hairy Ainu or, 3,800 miles on a pack saddle in Yezo and a cruise to the Kurile Islands. by Landor, A. H. Savage