Restive \Rest"ive\ (r?st"?v), a. [OF. restif, F. r['e]tif, fr.
L. restare to stay back, withstand, resist. See Rest
remainder, and cf. Restiff.] .
Unwilling to go on; obstinate in refusing to move forward;
stubborn; drawing back.
[1913 Webster]
Restive or resty, drawing back, instead of going
forward, as some horses do. --E. Philips
(1658).
[1913 Webster]
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. --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
2. Inactive; sluggish. [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne.
[1913 Webster]
3. Impatient under coercion, chastisement, or opposition;
refractory.
[1913 Webster]
4. Uneasy; restless; averse to standing still; fidgeting
about; -- applied especially to horses. --Trench.
[1913 Webster] --
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
restive
adj 1: being in a tense state [syn: edgy, high-strung, highly
strung, in suspense(p), jittery, jumpy, nervy,
overstrung, uptight]
2: impatient especially under restriction or delay; "the
government has done nothing to ease restrictions and
manufacturers are growing restive"
WordNet (r) 2.0
151 Moby Thesaurus words for "restive":
antsy, antsy-pantsy, anxious, apathetic, backward, balking, balky,
beefing, bellyaching, beyond control, bigoted, bitching, breachy,
breathless, bulldogged, bulletheaded, bullheaded, case-hardened,
chafing, complaining, complaintful, contumacious, crabbing, crabby,
cranky, croaking, cross-grained, defiant, dilatory, disappointed,
discontented, disgruntled, displeased, dissatisfied, dogged,
dogmatic, eager, edgy, envious, excited, fanatic, faultfinding,
fidgety, fluttery, fractious, fretful, fretting, froward, fussy,
griping, grouchy, grousing, growling, grudging, grumbling,
hardheaded, hasty, headstrong, hopped-up, impatient,
impatient of control, impetuous, in a lather, in a stew,
in a sweat, incorrigible, indifferent, indocile, indomitable,
insuppressible, intolerant, intractable, irrepressible, laggard,
loath, malcontent, malcontented, mulish, murmuring, muttering,
nervy, obstinate, obstreperous, on edge, opinionated, ornery,
out of hand, out of humor, overzealous, peevish, perfunctory,
persevering, pertinacious, perverse, petulant, pigheaded,
querulant, querulous, rebellious, recalcitrant, refractory,
reluctant, renitent, resentful, resistant, resisting, restless,
self-willed, set, shrewish, slow, slow to, squirming, squirmy,
stiff-necked, strong-willed, strongheaded, stubborn, sulky, sullen,
tenacious, tense, unaccepting, unaccommodating, unbiddable,
uncontrollable, uncooperative, uneasy, unenthusiastic, unfulfilled,
ungovernable, ungratified, unhappy, unmalleable, unmanageable,
unmoldable, unpatient, unquiet, unregenerate, unrestful, unruly,
unsatisfied, unsettled, unsubmissive, unzealous, uptight, wayward,
whiny, wild, willful, wrongheaded
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
edgy, high-strung, highly strung, in suspense(p), jittery, jumpy, nervy, overstrung, uptight
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