contumacious
/ˌkɑːn.tʊˈmeɪ.ʃəs/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.19 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
4
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Contemptuous of authority; willfully disobedient; rebellious.
adj
Willfully disobedient to the summons or orders of a court.
Example Sentences
- "[…] and, on his conſtancie, ſounds an accuſation to Herod of a contumacious affront, on ſuch a day, before many peers; præpares the king to ſome paſſion, and at laſt, by her daughter’s dancing, effects it."
- "In all places too are Dissident Priests; whom the Legislative will have to deal with: contumacious individuals, working on that angriest of passions; plotting, enlisting."
- "But the emperor has ordered that if the count remain contumacious Thekla shall be taken from us and placed in a convent, where she will be forced to embrace Catholicism, and will, when she comes of age, be given in marriage to some adherent of the emperor, who will with her receive the greater portion of her father's lands."
- "Its verbs are conjugated in a way that defies all the injunctions of the grammar books; it has its contumacious rules of tense, number and case; […]"
Etymology
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌkɑːn.tʊˈmeɪ.ʃəs/
- British English: /ˌkɒn.tjʊˈmeɪ.ʃəs/
Inflected Forms
more contumacious (comparative)
most contumacious (superlative)