recusant

noun

re·cu·sant | \ ˈre-kyə-zənt

, ri-ˈkyü- \

Definition of recusant

1 : an English Roman Catholic of the time from about 1570 to 1791 who refused to attend services of the Church of England and thereby committed a statutory offense

2 : one who refuses to accept or obey established authority

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Examples of recusant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The uniform of the conformist — sports shirt, cardigan, tennis shoes — is as easily recognized as that of the recusant — dirty white T, sideburns, two days’ growth of beard. — Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, "‘True West’ is back at Steppenwolf, wrestling with the ghosts of Malkovich, Sinise and Shepard," 15 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'recusant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.