Word of the Day Archive
Wednesday January 14, 2004
obstreperous \uhb-STREP-uhr-uhs; ob-\ , adjective:
1. Noisily and stubbornly defiant; unruly.
2. Noisy, clamorous, or boisterous.
He began standing up to the Orderlies, talking back, openly obstreperous.
-- John Darnton, The Experiment
When he was ordered from above to expel two obstreperous comrades -- they insisted on challenging the leadership -- he found himself "caught between my Jeffersonian upbringing and my Party loyalty."
-- William Herrick, "Truth Was the Last Straw", New York Times, July 12, 1987
He becomes obstreperous and truculent as an infant in need of an afternoon nap.
-- James Doran, "Bonus question raises ire of fund managers", Times (London), April 19, 2001
Many booksellers . . . were reluctant to carry books that would attract the sometimes obstreperous youngsters who lived by rock and roll.
-- Ray Walters, "Paperback Talk", New York Times, September 13, 1981
Obstreperous derives from Latin obstrepere, "to make a noise, to clamor at or against; hence, to disturb, to interrupt by clamor," from ob-, "toward, against" + strepere, "to make a loud noise."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for obstreperous
