contumacious

adjective

ˌkän-tü-ˈmā-shəs How to pronounce contumacious (audio)
Definition of contumaciousnext
as in rebellious
given to resisting authority or another's control the judge threatened to charge the contumacious witness with contempt of court

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for contumacious
  1. rebellious
  2. rebel
  3. defiant
  4. willful
  5. stubborn
Adjective
  • Unconventional and futuristic, Aquarius pushes us to break free from tradition, encouraging bold, rebellious choices in our wardrobe.
    Valerie Mesa, People.com, 8 Dec. 2024
  • Still haunted by Beetlejuice (Keaton), Lydia’s (Ryder) life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid (Wednesday’s Jenna Ortega), discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened.
    Claire Franken, TVLine, 6 Dec. 2024
Definition of rebellious
Adjective
  • Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a rebel force and former al-Qaeda affiliate, captured Damascus on Saturday night.
    Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA TODAY, 10 Dec. 2024
  • Moscow Confirms Syria's Assad Has Been Granted Political Asylum By Shannon McDonagh Freelance News Reporter Syria's chemical weapons are under scrutiny after rebel forces ousted President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, sparking fears of toxic materials falling into extremist hands.
    Paul Du Quenoy, Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2024
Definition of rebel
Adjective
  • Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, delivered a defiant speech last Wednesday, insisting that the Axis was alive and well.
    Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 17 Dec. 2024
  • Only after defiant parliament members rushed into the National Assembly and voted unanimously to reject the order did Yoon reverse course, ending six chaotic hours, which saw protests erupt in the capital city.
    Dylan Butts, CNBC, 11 Dec. 2024
Definition of defiant
Adjective
  • The district attorney’s office has charged Jones with one count of murder and one count of willful cruelty to a child causing possible injury or death.
    Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 7 Dec. 2024
  • Under civil tax law, fraudulent returns or willful attempts to evade taxes allow the IRS to examine records indefinitely.
    Virginia La Torre Jeker, J.D., Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024
Definition of willful
Adjective
  • The Fed’s preferred inflation measure — the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index — is due Friday and could similarly show stubborn price pressures.
    Bryan Mena, CNN, 18 Dec. 2024
  • While the overall economic picture is starting to look better, stubborn inflation and the prospect of new tariffs when President-elect Donald Trump takes office seem to give mid-market leaders pause.
    Megan Poinski, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024
Definition of stubborn
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Podcast

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Thesaurus Entries Near contumacious

controverts

contumacious

contumacy

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Contumacious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contumacious. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

Point of View: It's Personal

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Words You Always Have to Look Up
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
naughty or nice
Are you naughty or nice? Quiz He's making a quiz, and checking it twice...