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Restive   /rˈɛstɪv/   Listen
adjective
Restive  adj.  
1.
Unwilling to go on; obstinate in refusing to move forward; stubborn; drawing back. "Restive or resty, drawing back, instead of going forward, as some horses do." "The people remarked with awe and wonder that the beasts which were to drag him (Abraham Holmes) to the gallows became restive, and went back."
2.
Inactive; sluggish. (Obs.)
3.
Impatient under coercion, chastisement, or opposition; refractory.
4.
Uneasy; restless; averse to standing still; fidgeting about; applied especially to horses.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Restive" Quotes from Famous Books



... this and Shikarpoor belongs to the Ameers of Sinde. They were very restive at first, when they heard of our intention to march through their country, and threatened to oppose our progress; but I believe they have since thought better of it; however, I do not think that they can do anything against us: time ...
— Campaign of the Indus • T.W.E. Holdsworth
... when she appeared, after a morning's chase, resplendent in the fullness of her healthful beauty, beaming with excitement, her superb figure undulating gracefully to the restive movements of her horse. I could have prostrated myself before her, in a wild worship of her beauty. She had that quality which is so rare in woman, but so admirable where it exists,—entire fearlessness; for it is a most absurd ...
— Continental Monthly , Vol I, Issue I, January 1862 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy • Various
... a darling!" cried Bessie in a voice that pleased him, as the pretty creature began to dance and prance and sidle and show off her restive caprices, making the groom's mounting ...
— The Vicissitudes of Bessie Fairfax • Harriet Parr
... Countess is certainly a handsome woman, but she puts on the grand air a little too powerfully. Woodcock was immensely taken with her, and insisted on his wife's calling on her and asking her to dinner; but I think Mrs. Woodcock turned restive after the first visit, ...
— Scenes of Clerical Life • George Eliot
... that rather intellectual?" said Vincent, who had been growing restive. "The thing can surely be much ...
— Father Payne • Arthur Christopher Benson


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