recusant

[rek-yuh-zuh nt, ri-kyoo-zuh nt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR recusant 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.

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

Related formsun·rec·u·sant, adjective

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

Related Words for recusant

barbarous, chaotic, turbulent, violent, unruly, anarchic, unfavorable, adverse, pessimistic, gloomy, weak, revolutionary, militant, fanatical, progressive, uncompromising, far-out, extremist, sweeping, leftist

Examples from the Web for recusant

Historical Examples of recusant

I bethink me—a Papist priest—a recusant—who was for some time an inmate of the hall.
Rookwood
William Harrison Ainsworth
Its object is not the moral education of the recusant individuals.
Liberalism
L. T. Hobhouse
Never before had a recusant daughter braved her to her face.
Not Like Other Girls
Rosa N. Carey
The recusant was one Walter Simpson, the Vulcan of the parish.
Scotch Wit and Humor
W. H. (Walter Henry) Howe
And then he added, "The Council will not find, at all events, that I am recusant."
Sunrise
William Black

British Dictionary definitions for recusant

recusant

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 Formsrecusance 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

Word Origin and History for recusant

adj.

"obstinate in refusal," 1550s, from Latin recusantem (nominative recusans) "refusing to obey," present participle of recusare "make an objection against; decline, refuse, reject; be reluctant to" (see recuse). The noun meaning "one obstinate in refusing" is from 1610s.