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  1. contumacy love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Obstinate or contemptuous resistance to authority; stubborn rebelliousness.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. Wilful and persistent resistance to legitimate authority of any kind; unyielding disobedience; stubborn perverseness in an illegal or wrong course of action.
  2. n. Specifically In law, wilful disobedience to a lawful order of a judicial or legislative body, or wilful contempt of its authority; a refusal to appear in court when legally summoned. Synonyms Stubbornness, perverseness, wilfulness, intractability. For comparison, see obstinate.

Wiktionary

  1. n. disobedience, resistance to authority

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. Stubborn perverseness; pertinacious resistance to authority.
  2. n. (Law) A willful contempt of, and disobedience to, any lawful summons, or to the rules and orders of court, as a refusal to appear in court when legally summoned.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. obstinate rebelliousness and insubordination; resistance to authority
  2. n. willful refusal to appear before a court or comply with a court order; can result in a finding of contempt of court

Etymologies

  1. Middle English contumacie, from Latin contumācia, from contumāx, contumāc-, insolent. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • ““Yes, yes,” continued the Frenchwoman, with angry volubility, “what has she done that you call contumacy and disrespect?”

    The Evil Guest

  • “Presumptive contumacy occurs when there is a strong presumption, though it is not certain, that the citation was served.”

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 4: Clandestinity-Diocesan Chancery

  • “As he resisted all Davies's attempts to enlighten him, and met his master's threats with a stedfastness which these friends to liberty called contumacy, the alternative was dismissal from his present service, without any remuneration for his past.”

    The Loyalists, Vol. 1-3 An Historical Novel

  • “For I felt certain that whatever it was that they professed, their contumacy and inflexible obstinancy obviously demanded punishment.”

    The Roman Empire, the Early Christian Martyrs and a Thought about the Martyrology

  • “Bread and the circus are freely given to the deserving, and as for the undeserving, they are merely reaping the rewards of their contumacy and pride.”

    A REVIEW

  • “Now there is a problem in that the Framers did not include a power to punish for contumacy.”

    The Volokh Conspiracy » The proper understanding of “Necessary and Proper”:

  • “Punishment for refusing to comply with a court order, such as an injunction against violation of a regulation or operating without a license, is a different power, the power to punish for contumacy, not a necessary and implied power of the Commerce Clause.”

    The Volokh Conspiracy » The proper understanding of “Necessary and Proper”:

  • “He is, therefore, summoned to their presence, and prompt obedience will insure him forgiveness; but in case of contumacy, let him beware how he again essays either the lyre or the pallet.”

    Saint Ronan's Well

  • “Captain MacTurk would willingly have taken measures against the Baronet himself, as in a state of contumacy, but was opposed by Winterblossom and other members of the committee, who considered Sir Bingo as too important and illustrious a member of their society to be rashly expelled from a place not honoured by the residence of many persons of rank; and finally insisted that nothing should be done in the matter without the advice of”

    Saint Ronan's Well

  • “But his entertainer took not the contumacy of the young apprentice with so much patience.”

    The Fair Maid of Perth

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synonyms (4)

Words with the same meaning

  1. perverseness
  1. stubbornness
  1. obstinacy
  1. disobedience

hypernyms (4)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. rebelliousness
  1. insubordination
  1. noncompliance
  1. disobedience

same context (25)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. undutifulness
  2. incompliance
  3. obduracy
  4. insubordination
  5. disrespect
  1. perverseness
  2. noncompliance
  3. vagabondism
  4. stubbornness
  5. boorishness
  1. infraction
  2. impenitence
  3. demerit
  4. transoms
  5. adventurousness
  1. chutzpah
  2. malversation
  3. self-will
  4. misdemeanor
  5. forlornness
  1. desertion
  2. ill nature
  3. apostasy
  4. wilfulness
  5. misbehavior

reverse dictionary (5)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. contumacity
  1. contumacious
  1. contumaciousness
  1. stiff neck
  1. obstinacy

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  • yarb Madam, answered I, you have but to command me. Give me my commission on your muster-roll, and you shall have no reason to complain either of my cowardice or contumacy.

    - Lesage, The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane, tr. Smollett, bk 4 ch. 7 Sep 18, 2008

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‘contumacy’ has been looked up 1921 times, loved by 4 people, added to 23 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 18.