This week's theme: words to describe people.

recalcitrant (ri-KAL-si-truhnt) adjective

   Stubbornly resistant to authority.

[From Latin recalcitrare (to kick back, to be disobedient), from re- (again)
+ calcitrare (to kick), from calx (heel). If you have a dog that has dug his
heels in while you're trying to pull him forward, you have a case of an animal
that's being recalcitrant, literally.]
 
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=recalcitrant

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

  "Mount Kelut has been on high alert for more than two weeks but activity
   escalated dramatically on Friday, triggering fresh rounds of evacuations
   carried out by troops and local officials. On Saturday, some recalcitrant
   residents were dragged from their homes."
   Indonesia's Mount Kelut Erupts; Agence France-Presse; Nov 3, 2007.

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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/recalcitrant.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/recalcitrant.ram

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