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adj. 1. Stubbornly resistant to or defiant of authority or guidance. See Synonyms at obstinate. 2. Difficult to manage or deal with: a recalcitrant problem. 3. Resistant to chemical decomposition; decomposing extremely slowly. n. A recalcitrant person. [Late Latin recalcitrāns, recalcitrant-, present participle of recalcitrāre, to be disobedient, from Latin, to deny access : re-, re- + calcitrāre, to kick (from calx, calc-, heel).] re·calci·trance, re·calci·tran·cy n. |
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