Lexic.us

Definition of Restive

1. Adjective. Being in a tense state.

2. Adjective. Impatient especially under restriction or delay. "The government has done nothing to ease restrictions and manufacturers are growing restive"

Definition of Restive

1. a. Unwilling to go on; obstinate in refusing to move forward; stubborn; drawing back.

Definition of Restive

1. Adjective. Impatient under delay, duress, or control. ¹

2. Adjective. Resistant of control; stubborn. ¹

3. Adjective. Refusing to move, especially in a forward direction. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Restive

1. difficult to control [adj]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Restive

restitch restitched restitches restitching restitope restitute restituted restitutes restituting restitution

restitutions restitutive restitutor restitutors restitutory restive (current term) restively restiveness restivenesses restless

restless leg syndrome restless legs restless legs syndrome restlessly restlessness restlessnesses resto restock restocked

Literary usage of Restive

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from by Richard Chenevix Trench (1865)
"restive, ) Any one now invited to define a restiveNESS. J' restive' horse would certainly put into his definition that it was one with too much motion; ..."

2. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage by Inc. Merriam-Webster (1994)
"restive ,atient, uneasy.” There the matter seemed to rest, )ugh Bierce 1909 grumbled. Fowler 1926 ignored matter, and Krapp 1927 thought restive showed I ..."

3. A Glossary of the Cleveland Dialect: Explanatory, Derivative, and Critical by John Christopher Atkinson (1868)
"Beist, vn To be restive, to display stubbornness or obstinacy. ... restive. Remmon, va and ni To remove; transfer from one place to another. 2. ..."

4. The Library of Literary Criticism of English and American Authors by Charles Wells Moulton (1904)
"... a brief while the mind, having nothing to do on its account but to remain wide open, and see what Emerson sends it, grows quite restive and then torpid. ..."

5. The Works of Tobias Smollett by Tobias George Smollett, William Ernest Henley (1899)
"CHAPTER X The Commodore being in some cases restive, his Lady has recourse to artifice in the Establishment of her Throne—She exhibits symptoms of Pregnancy ..."

6. Hints on Horsemanship, to a Nephew and Niece; Or, Common Sense and Common by George Greenwood (1861)
"It is in consequence of this that we find so many restive horses ; . that so few thorough-bred horses — that is, horses of the highest courage — can be made ..."

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