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
Adjective
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
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Taking inspiration from the the Jolly Roger, this 44mm watch has both military functionality and a rebellious spirit, with a blackout dial punctuated by a luminous skull-and-crossbones emblem at 9 o’clock.—
Matthew Catellier,
Forbes.com,
26 Aug. 2025
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Related Stories The film centers on 12-year-old Janna, who embarks on a journey toward Mecca to preform Hajj with her strict grandmother Sitti and rebellious 18-year-old sister Sarah.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
25 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The answer is that France at this time was attempting to heal its wartime wounds, papering over the cracks in the social fabric that had opened up during the German Occupation and positioning itself as a nation of resisters, in which collaborators had been few and aberrant.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
30 July 2025
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Many war resisters, or draft dodgers as they were often called by others, were not interested in returning when Mr. Carter made his amnesty offer.—
Ruth Fremson,
New York Times,
3 May 2025
Adjective
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Gilroy’s version was an origin story tracing the making of a revolutionary, the education of Cassian Andor as a scruffy, reluctant malcontent who is radicalized into a rebel leader.—
Anne Thompson,
IndieWire,
13 Aug. 2025
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Originally, the many rebel groups fighting Assad’s forces included both secular and Islamic militias.—
Rami Zeedan,
The Conversation,
11 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The trio – who had never appeared together in public before – formed the defiant face of an emerging bloc of illiberal leaders determined to push back against Western rules and tilt the global balance of power in their favor.—
Nectar Gan,
CNN Money,
4 Sep. 2025
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While Massie remains defiant, the episode highlights how Trump’s threats alone can destabilize even entrenched incumbents.—
Samantha-Jo Roth,
The Washington Examiner,
1 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Few among the bureaucratic, business, and even military elites denounced the mutineers, exposing limited support for Putin.—
ANDREI YAKOVLEV,
Foreign Affairs,
16 May 2025
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He’s been with them since the beginning, proving himself as a loyal friend and a valuable mutineer.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
7 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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According to state court records obtained by USA TODAY, Jake Haro was convicted in June 2023 of willful child cruelty for an incident involving another child in the nearby town of Hemet.—
Melina Khan,
USA Today,
26 Aug. 2025
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Court records obtained by PEOPLE show that Jake was previously convicted on a charge of willful child cruelty after a 2018 incident involving his then 10-week-old daughter with a different woman.—
Chris Spargo,
People.com,
26 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Arizona-Utah local president Amanda Melby undoubtedly won her race, also against two challengers, with 120 votes (nearly 70% support).—
Katie Campione,
Deadline,
4 Sep. 2025
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Districts 2 and 7 do not have primary elections since respective incumbents Malcolm Graham and Ed Driggs do not have challengers whose names will appear on the ballot.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Deporting supposed gang members and Hamas supporters without due process may violate any number of statutes, but forcing oppositionists to defend these people’s rights allows the administration to paint them as defending their ideas.—
Garry Kasparov,
The Atlantic,
17 Apr. 2025
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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
Cite this Entry
“Recusant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/recusant. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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