'Refractory' describes someone or something that is stubborn, hard to manage, or resistant to treatment or heat.
'Refractory' describes someone or something that is stubborn, hard to manage, or resistant to treatment or heat.
| Front | refractory \rih-FRAK-tuh-ree\ |
|---|---|
| Back | adjective 1. Hard to manage; stubborn. 2. Resistant to usual methods or treatment. 3. Difficult to fuse: resistant to high temperature. noun A heat-resistant material. [From alteration of refractary, from Latin refractarius (stubborn), from refractus, past participle of refringere (to break up), from re- + frangere (to break).] "There is nothing so awful - whether a week's-worth of rain, a marital quarrel, a refractory child - that it cannot be resolved in the kitchen." - Keith Botsford; Season of Soups and Mellow Vegetableness; The Independent (London, UK); Nov 6, 1993. "Though the Nobel laureate (William Faulkner) could often be indulgent with children, he was essentially a withdrawn and refractory man." - Michael Dirda; Mississippi in the Summer!; The Washington Post; Aug 11, 2002. |
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