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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contumacious
Adjective
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The 8-episode first season charts the improbable ascent of Joe and Rose Kennedy and their nine children, including rebellious second son Jack, who struggles to escape the shadow of his golden boy older brother.—
Denise Petski,
Deadline,
27 Mar. 2026 -
In a mountain resort, rebellious snowboarders uncover a nuclear conspiracy in a uranium mine.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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In a message Monday on X, Sánchez said that so far there were no signs indicating that the plane was attacked by rebel groups that operate near Puerto Leguizamo.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
24 Mar. 2026
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Petro, a leftist who was a member of a rebel group in his youth, has attempted to stage peace talks with Colombia’s remaining rebel groups under a strategy known as total peace.—
Manuel Rueda,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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If anything, the regime is more defiant, belligerent, and brazen, determined to prevail at any cost.—
Sudarsan Raghavan,
New Yorker,
25 Mar. 2026
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Rejecting that, Zuckerberg’s defiant testimony saw the billionaire, who doesn’t let his own kids use his products, admitting Instagram, for example, had few guardrails and not much of anything in terms of anage verification system until just a few years ago.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
24 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Not seeing the correlation between spending and winning, or between winning and bigger crowds, is willful head-in-the-sand stuff.—
Greg Cote
Updated March 27,
Miami Herald,
28 Mar. 2026
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The willful Sun conjoins Saturn in your impactful sign, fusing courage with responsibility.—
Tarot.com,
Hartford Courant,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Governments across the continent are struggling with stubborn insurgencies.—
Obi Anyadike,
semafor.com,
23 Mar. 2026
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Because that is ultimately what The Secret Garden is about—the stubborn, almost unreasonable insistence of living things to grow toward the light.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Contumacious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contumacious. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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