restive means impatient under delay, duress, or control.
restive is pronounced /ˈɹɛstɪv/.
Why “restive” is a great word
Impatient under or resistant to control, often showing this by a stubborn refusal to move or proceed. From Middle English *restyf*, from Old French *restif* ("motionless"), from *rester* ("to remain, stay"), from Latin *restō, restāre* ("to stand firm, remain behind"), first used in the 15th century to describe a balking horse. Unlike “restless” (which suggests a general, aimless agitation) or “obstinate” (which implies a passive, immovable will), “restive” conveys a specific, wire-tensed friction between the impulse to act and the refusal to be acted upon. It is the thoroughbred shivering at the starting gate, the stifled sigh of a child forced to sit still, the simmering tension in a crowd held behind barricades—a stillness that is not peace, but pressure, the will made flesh and refusing to yield.
Etymology
Modification of earlier restiff, from Middle English restyf, from Old French restif, from rester (“to stay, remain”), from Latin restō.
* Shares an etymology with rest ("to remain," obsolete)
*Merriam-Webster states that this word was originally used to describe horses that disobeyed commands. Presumably, then, the word came to mean fidgety or anxious more broadly.
adj
- Impatient under delay, duress, or control.e.g.“The horses were now more restive than ever, and Johann was trying to hold them in.”
- Resistant to control; stubborn.
- Refusing to move, especially in a forward direction.
Words closest in meaning
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