as in rebellious
given to resisting authority or another's control
several recusant senators refused to vote as commanded by the party leadership
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in resister
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Recent Examples of recusant
Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, 15 July 2019
Noun
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, 15 July 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for recusant
Adjective
-
That would be a massive threat to the hegemony established by the film, especially for people at their most curious, rebellious age.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
15 May 2026
-
And what could be more rebellious than sending a roomful of serious cinephiles screaming for the exits?—
Christopher Vourlias,
Variety,
15 May 2026
Noun
-
Clemson resister Dabo Swinney has driven his program into the ground.—
Stewart Mandel,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2026
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In November 1971, Berkeley, California, became the first sanctuary city in the country when 12 local churches inspired the City Council to pass a resolution offering sanctuary to draft resisters.—
Menika Dirkson,
The Conversation,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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When Aleppo fell in late November, in part due to that tunnel operation that cut off the regime's supply lines, the rebel groups made a split-second decision to continue the offensive.—
Emily Feng,
NPR,
17 May 2026
-
Fuel and fertilizer needed for the rice crop are just the latest necessities to become unaffordable in Rakhine state, which has been devastated by intense fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA), one of the many rebel groups in the country.—
Helen Regan,
CNN Money,
16 May 2026
Adjective
-
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s defiant bid to face down a rebellion left his future in the balance Wednesday, but that wasn’t going to stop the United Kingdom playing dress-up for the ceremonial State Opening of Parliament.—
Alexander Smith,
NBC news,
13 May 2026
-
Plum is braless, her vest open to reveal a shimmery pile of silver chains, her abs on defiant display.—
Jade Chang,
Los Angeles Times,
13 May 2026
Noun
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Language purists like to remind anyone who will listen that decimation actually means the slaughter of one in ten people, and was the military punishment wielded by the Roman army against deserters and mutineers.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Few among the bureaucratic, business, and even military elites denounced the mutineers, exposing limited support for Putin.—
ANDREI YAKOVLEV,
Foreign Affairs,
16 May 2025
Noun
-
Trump has been actively endorsing challengers against Republican critics ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.—
Phillip M. Bailey,
USA Today,
17 May 2026
-
The Thunder have yet to lose a game in these playoffs, but the Spurs have been their top challenger all season and won the season series, 4-1.—
Joe Arruda,
Hartford Courant,
16 May 2026
Noun
-
Yesterday, in an effort to galvanize democratic forces, oppositionists announced the foundation of the Strategic Council of Republicans Inside Iran.—
Arash Azizi,
The Atlantic,
1 Mar. 2026
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Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is a Sunni Islamist umbrella group of oppositionist forces with ideological and organizational roots in al-Qaeda.—
Joseph Epstein,
Newsweek,
10 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
Many advanced states understand the need for some kind of violent reaction to terrorists or insurgents, usually as a task for special-operations forces.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
11 May 2026
-
Both political insurgents were elected under extraordinary circumstances.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
10 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Recusant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/recusant. Accessed 18 May. 2026.
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