contumacious

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
18
Words With Friends
24
Letters
12
Pronunciation
/ˌkɒn.tjʊˈmeɪ.ʃəs/
See all 3 pronunciations
/ˌkɒn.tjʊˈmeɪ.ʃəs/ · /ˌkɑːn.tʊˈmeɪ.ʃəs/(US) · /ˌkɑːn.tjəˈmeɪ.ʃəs/(US)

Definition of contumacious

2 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

adj

  1. Contemptuous of authority; willfully disobedient; rebellious.
    “[…] and, on his conſtancie, ſounds an accuſation to Herod of a contumacious affront, on ſuch a day, before many peers; præpares the king to ſome paſſion, and at laſt, by her daughter’s dancing, effects it.”
    “In all places too are Dissident Priests; whom the Legislative will have to deal with: contumacious individuals, working on that angriest of passions; plotting, enlisting.”
    “But the emperor has ordered that if the count remain contumacious Thekla shall be taken from us and placed in a convent, where she will be forced to embrace Catholicism, and will, when she comes of age, be given in marriage to some adherent of the emperor, who will with her receive the greater portion of her father's lands.”
    “Its verbs are conjugated in a way that defies all the injunctions of the grammar books; it has its contumacious rules of tense, number and case; […]”
See all 2 definitions

adj

  1. Contemptuous of authority; willfully disobedient; rebellious.
    “[…] and, on his conſtancie, ſounds an accuſation to Herod of a contumacious affront, on ſuch a day, before many peers; præpares the king to ſome paſſion, and at laſt, by her daughter’s dancing, effects it.”
    “In all places too are Dissident Priests; whom the Legislative will have to deal with: contumacious individuals, working on that angriest of passions; plotting, enlisting.”
    “But the emperor has ordered that if the count remain contumacious Thekla shall be taken from us and placed in a convent, where she will be forced to embrace Catholicism, and will, when she comes of age, be given in marriage to some adherent of the emperor, who will with her receive the greater portion of her father's lands.”
    “Its verbs are conjugated in a way that defies all the injunctions of the grammar books; it has its contumacious rules of tense, number and case; […]”
  2. Willfully disobedient to the summons or orders of a court.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Latin contumāx (“stubborn, obstinate”) + -ious.

Words you can make from contumacious

200+ playable · top: ACCUSTOM (14 pts)

Best play accustom 14 points

9-letter words

7 words

8-letter words

21 words

7-letter words

46 words

6-letter words

97 words

5-letter words

28 words

Find your best play with contumacious

See every word you can make from a set of letters that includes contumacious, or browse word lists you can mine for high-scoring plays.