recusant

[ rek-yuh-zuhnt, ri-kyoo-zuhnt ]

/ ˈrɛk yə zənt, rɪˈkyu zənt /

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See synonyms for: recusant / recusants on Thesaurus.com

adjective

refusing to submit, comply, etc.

obstinate in refusal.

English History. refusing to attend services of the Church of England.

noun

a person who is recusant.

English History. a person, especially a Roman Catholic, who refused to attend the services of the Church of England.

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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 causacause; see -ant

OTHER WORDS FROM recusant

un·rec·u·sant, adjective

Words nearby recusant

recurvate, recurvation, recurve, recurved, recusancy, recusant, recuse, recycle, recycling, red, redact

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use recusant in a sentence

The recusant States must be whipped back into submission to the autocrats that would direct their affairs.
Historic Papers on the Causes of the Civil War|Mrs. Eugenia Dunlap Potts
When recovered the second time, he was whipped as well as fed—another lesson which only made the stubborn recusant run the faster.
Jesse Cliffe|Mary Russell Mitford
The recusant was one Walter Simpson, the Vulcan of the parish.
Scotch Wit and Humor|W. H. (Walter Henry) Howe
He was summoned to the bar of the House as a Popish recusant.
The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened|Kenelm Digby

Uledi returned from his expedition against a recusant officer at Kituntu, bringing with him a spoil of ten women.
The Discovery of the Source of the Nile|John Hanning Speke

British Dictionary definitions for recusant

recusant

/ (ˈrɛkjʊzənt) /

noun

(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

any person who refuses to submit to authority

adjective

(formerly, of Catholics) refusing to attend services of the Church of England

refusing to submit to authority

Derived forms of recusant

recusance or recusancy, noun

Word Origin for recusant

C16: from Latin recūsāns refusing, from recūsāre from re- + causārī to dispute, from causa a cause

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

recusant

Origin of recusant

OTHER WORDS FROM recusant

Words nearby recusant

Words related to recusant

How to use recusant in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for recusant

Derived forms of recusant

Word Origin for recusant