different between recalcitrant vs perverse

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French récalcitrant, from Latin recalcitr?ns, recalcitrantis, present participle of recalcitr?, recalcitr?re (“be disobedient, kick back [as a horse]”), from calx (“heel”), 1820s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.?kæl.s?.t??nt/

Adjective

recalcitrant (comparative more recalcitrant, superlative most recalcitrant)

1. Marked by a stubborn unwillingness to obey authority.
   • 1908, Edith Wharton, "In Trust" in The Hermit and the Wild Woman and Other Stories:

     His nimble fancy was recalcitrant to mental discipline.

   • 1914, P. G. Wodehouse, "Death at the Excelsior":

     There was something in her manner so reminiscent of the school teacher reprimanding a recalcitrant pupil that Mr. Snyder's sense of humor came to his rescue.

   • 1959 June 8, "Kenya: The Hola Scandal," Time:

     Kenya's official "Cowan Plan," named after a colonial prison administrator, decreed that recalcitrant prisoners "be manhandled to the site and forced to carry out the task."

2. Unwilling to cooperate socially.
3. Difficult to deal with or to operate.
   • 2003, Robert G. Wetzel, Solar radiation as an ecosystem modulator, in E. Walter Helbling, Horacio Zagarese (editors), UV Effects in Aquatic Organisms and Ecosystems, page 13:

     The more labile organic constituents of complex dissolved and particulate organic matter are commonly hydrolyzed and metabolized more rapidly than more recalcitrant organic compounds that are less accessible enzymatically.

   • 2004, Derek W. Urwin, Germany: From Geographical Expression to Regional Accommodation, in Michael Keating (editor), Regions and Regionalism in Europe, page 47:

     The Hansa had no legal status, independent finances or a common institutional framework, while the major weapon against recalcitrant members (or opponents) was the threat of embargo.

   • 2006, Janet Pierrehumbert, Syllable structure and word structure: a study of triconsonantal clusters in English, in Patricia A. Keating (editor), Phonological Structure and Phonetic Form, page 179:

     Particularly recalcitrant examples which made it impossible to remove actual words while maintaining the balance of the set were resolved by altering a consonant in the base word to create a new base form.

   • 2010, Brian J. Hall, John C. Hall, Sauer's Manual of Skin Diseases, page 251:

     However, when a clinician is faced with a more recalcitrant case, it is important to remember to ask the patient whether psychological, social, or occupational stress might be contributing to the activity of the skin disorder.
4. (botany, of seed, pollen, spores) Not viable for an extended period; damaged by drying or freezing.

Synonyms

• (stubbornly unwilling to obey authority): argumentative, disobedient
• (difficult to operate or deal with): stubborn, unruly, adversarial, obstreperous, intransigent

See also Thesaurus:obstinate

Antonyms

• (stubbornly unwilling to obey authority): compliant, obedient
• (difficult to operate or deal with): amenable, cooperative, eager
• (not viable for long period): orthodox

Derived terms

• recalcitrance
• recalcitrancy
• recalcitrantly

Translations

Noun

recalcitrant (plural recalcitrants)

1. A person who is recalcitrant.

Translations

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French récalcitrant, from Middle French recalcitrant, from Latin recalcitr?ns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?re?.k?l.si?tr?nt/
• Hyphenation: re?cal?ci?trant
• Rhymes: -?nt

Adjective

recalcitrant (comparative recalcitranter, superlative recalcitrantst)

1. recalcitrant

   Synonym: weerspannig

Inflection

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /re?kal.ki.trant/, [r??kä??k?t??än?t?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /re?kal.t??i.trant/, [r??k?l??t??it???n?t?]

Verb

recalcitrant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of recalcitr?

Romanian

Etymology

From French récalcitrant.

Adjective

recalcitrant m or n (feminine singular recalcitrant?, masculine plural recalcitran?i, feminine and neuter plural recalcitrante)

1. recalcitrant

Declension

English

Etymology

From Old French pervers, from Latin perversum, past participle of pervertere > per- 'thoroughly' + vertere 'to turn'. So, "thoroughly turned".

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /p??v?s/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /p??v??s/
• Hyphenation: per?verse
• Rhymes: -??(?)s

Adjective

perverse (comparative more perverse or perverser, superlative most perverse or perversest)

1. Turned aside; hence, specifically, turned away from the (morally) right; willfully erring; wicked; perverted.

   •     I felt most alive when I felt most perverse. At college, sleeping with boys had a perverse quality. I slept with a boy friend of one of my girl friends, and I was proud of it. I bragged about it because I had done something perverse. Another time, I slept with a man, fat and ugly, who paid me for it. I was very proud. I felt I had the ability to do something different.

2. Obstinately in the wrong; stubborn; intractable; hence, wayward; vexing; contrary.
3. (law, of a verdict) Ignoring the evidence or the judge's opinions.

Antonyms

• docile
• innocent

Derived terms

• perversely
• perverseness
• perversity

Translations

Anagrams

• persever, preserve

Dutch

Pronunciation

Adjective

perverse

1. Inflected form of pervers

French

Adjective

perverse

1. feminine singular of pervers

Anagrams

• préserve, préservé

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

perverse

1. inflection of pervers:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Adjective

perverse

1. feminine plural of perverso

Latin

Participle

perverse

1. vocative masculine singular of perversus

References

• perverse in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• perverse in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• perverse in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette