Welcome to “Words to Learn”. This series is about sharing fabulous vocabulary words that are simply fun to know, whether you would like to enrich the way you speak or you want to have a broader vocabulary at your fingertips for your writing. I personally have both of those goals.

Photo credit: Pixabay

Vocabulary is cool

I grew up with fairly intellectual parents, which was excellent for my blossoming love of books, theater and the arts. It also kindled my passion for language, which eventually helped me discover a love of writing. And yet it’s somehow easy for me to forget that improving vocabulary is a lifelong practice.

No one can ever know all the words!

So I launched this series a few weeks ago to continue adding to my own vocabulary and help others do the same. And, as I mentioned, anyone can join in! So far, participants in our little group include: @therosepatch, @caleblailmusik and myself, with sideline contributions from @multi4gwho has thrown some of his favorite words my way. In fact, today’s word is one of his recommendations.

A “Words to learn” post should offer a combination of the word’s pronunciation, its definition, and some example sentences that demonstrate how to use it. If you come on along on this vocabulary adventure with us, simply follow that general format and add the#learnwords tag. (Note: dictionary.com and thesaurus.com are excellent resources.)

Posts in this series so far:
Inexorably — @jayna
Shellacking — @caleblailmusik
Flotsam — @therosepatch
Ambivalent — @jayna
Coruscate — @therosepatch

Isn’t this fun? Okay, let’s move on to the word of the day.

The word recalcitrant

• Pronunciation: “ri-kal-si-truhnt”
• Definition: This is an adjective that means unruly, obstinate, or rebellious.
• How to use it: You can use this word to describe someone who is disobedient or is actively resisting authority.
• Another form of the word: Recalcitrant also acts as a noun; you can use it to describe a person–”a recalcitrant”–instead of that person’s behavior.

Photo credit: Pixabay

Example sentences:
The woman dragged her recalcitrant child from the candy store.
The school suspended the most recalcitrant students for disruptive behavior.

Note that a thing can be recalcitrant:

Once again, he shuffled the recalcitrant deck, then steadied his hands before the players seated at the table.

I was really glad that @multi4g suggested this word because I have always known it, but not well enough to use it. And in fact, I was never absolutely certain that you couldn’t use it to mean something like reluctant. But now I know!

Thanks for reading!