refractory
/ɹɪˈfɹæk.təɹ.i/
refractory means obstinate and unruly; strongly opposed to something.
refractory is pronounced /ɹɪˈfɹæk.təɹ.i/.
Why “refractory” is a great word
Resistant to authority, control, or treatment, or a material of very high melting point. From Latin refractārius (“obstinate”), from refrāctus, past participle of refringere (“to break up”). Unlike “recalcitrant,” which implies active, willful defiance, or “intractable,” which emphasizes unmanageable difficulty, “refractory” suggests a passive, inherent resistance. It is the infection that persists through every antibiotic, the child who stares unmoved through punishment, the firebrick that endures the furnace’s heart. A quiet, absolute fact of not yielding, it is the quality of a thing whose nature is to remain unbroken.
Etymology
From Latin refractārius (“obstinate”), from refrāctus, past participle of refringere (“to break up”). Originally refractary, refractarie, but reanalysed after other adjectives in -ory.
adj
- Obstinate and unruly; strongly opposed to something.e.g.“[…] in most instances attempts to coerce the refractory and disobedient have been the signals of bloody wars, […]”
- Not affected by great heat.e.g.“Pure lime is extremely refractory, but readily fusible if any silex is brought in contact with it; […]”
- Resistant to treatment; not responding adequately to therapy.e.g.“Many of the vague and refractory cases of neck and shoulder pain and of migraine may be due to cervical disc disease.”
- Incapable of registering a reaction or stimulus.e.g.“The production of a generator potential leaves a refractory state in the receptor membrane […]”
noun
- A material or piece of material, such as a brick, that has a very high melting point.
- A plant or factory that produces such material.
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