restive

The U.S. launched campaigns in the restive Iraqi city of Fallujah and a surge campaign in Baghdad.
Pentagon Doesn’t Know How Many People It’s Killed in the ISIS War|Nancy A. Youssef|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The U.S. military is finally starting to train Iraqi troops to fight ISIS in restive Anbar province.
Pentagon Insider on New Plan to Fight ISIS: ‘Of Course It’s Not Enough’|Nancy A. Youssef|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The great exception, of course, was Ireland, its most restive component.
Wounds of World War I Have Yet to Heal|Michael F. Bishop|June 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
On Friday, the restive Ukrainian parliament, now dominated by her political allies, voted to free her.
Yulia Tymoshenko: She's No Angel|Christopher Dickey|February 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Levinson pointed to the the SInai Peninsula, the restive swath of desert that links Israel to Egypt.
The Egypt Crackdown and Israeli-Palestinian Talks|Ali Gharib|August 22, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Attempting to remount, I was as stiff and awkward as an octogenarian, and my restive mule would not stand for a moment.
The Secret Service.|Albert D. Richardson
On the other hand, he began at times to be restive about "the most trifling matters," to the surprise of Yulia Mihailovna.
The Possessed|Fyodor Dostoevsky
Another groom, who was a good swimmer, had been sent back to Rome with a restive horse.
The Story of My Life, volumes 4-6|Augustus J. C. Hare
One shore was restive, uneasy; the other confident, mocking.
A Cumberland Vendetta|John Fox, Jr.
I hear, answered Cinq Mars, with a peevish start, like a restive horse forced forward on a road he is unwilling to take.
Richelieu, v. 1/3|G. P. R. James

British Dictionary definitions for restive

restive

/ (ˈrɛstɪv) /

adjective

restless, nervous, or uneasy

impatient of control or authority

Derived forms of restive

restively, adverbrestiveness, noun

Word Origin for restive

C16: from Old French restif balky, from rester to remain

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