restive

[res-tiv]

adjective

1. impatient of control, restraint, or delay, as persons; restless; uneasy.

   Synonyms: unquiet, nervous
   Antonyms: quiet, patient

2. refractory; stubborn.

   Synonyms: obstinate, disobedient, recalcitrant
   Antonyms: tractable, obedient

3. refusing to go forward; balky.

   a restive horse.

restive

/ ˈrɛstɪv /

adjective

1. restless, nervous, or uneasy

2. impatient of control or authority

Other Word Forms

• restively adverb
• restiveness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of restive¹

1375–1425; rest ² + -ive; replacing late Middle English restif stationary, balking < Old French: inert

Word History and Origins

Origin of restive¹

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

Example Sentences

Yet, however destructive to his personal life, Matthiessen’s restive, yearning nature animated the best of his fiction.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

For Delhi, the challenge is not just managing a fallen ally in exile, but preserving a neighbour central to its security - from counterterrorism and border management to access to its restive north-eastern region.

Read more on BBC

Will restive Labour MPs try to shift government policy yet again?

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Oddly, as Mike Burry’s investors grew restive, his Wall Street counterparties took a new and envious interest in what he was up to.

Read more on Literature

Clashes between rival jihadist factions in northeast Nigeria have claimed some 200 lives in the restive Lake Chad area, intelligence, militia and jihadist sources told AFP Monday.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• agitated 
• fractious 
• jittery 
• recalcitrant 
• restless 
• tense 
• uneasy 
• unruly