A Word A Day —contumacious

with Anu Garg

“Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.” Like all genuine humor, this waggish remark carries a grain of truth. There are six billion of us around, and we are very different - in our demeanor, diction, and dreams; in our fingerprints, retinal patterns, and DNA sequences.

Yet, no matter which hand we write with, what language we speak, or what we eat, there is something that binds us all, whether it is our preference for a life free from fear, our efforts to make this world better for us and for others, or our appreciation of beauty of the soul and our longing for love.

With so many people, so many shared traits, and so many differences, there’s no wonder we have so many words to describe people. This week we look at five of them.

contumacious

(KON-tuh-may-shuhs, -tyoo-)

adjective: Stubborn, insubordinate.

From Latin contumacia, from contumax, contumac- (insolent).

“Without the disciplining presence of the two heavyweights, contumacious councillors busied themselves with procedural obstruction and shouting ‘corruption’ at each other.”
Tehran’s Municipal Politics; The Economist (London, UK); Jan 25, 2003.

Just praise is only a debt, but flattery is a present. -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784)