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Restive ultimately comes from the Anglo-French word rester, meaning "to stop, resist, or remain." In its earliest use, restive meant "sluggish" or "inactive," though this sense is no longer in use. Another early sense was "stubborn, obstinate." Specifically, restive often referred to horses that refused to do as commanded. This general application to unruly horses may have influenced the development of the "fidgety, impatient" sense of restive. Some usage commentators have objected to this newer sense, but it has been in use for well over a century, and is now the more common of the uses.
Examples of restive in a Sentence
The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 2 June 2025
After South Sudan declared independence, the regions bordering the breakaway country remained restive, and the Bashir regime began deploying a new paramilitary force there.
—Nicolas Niarchos, New Yorker, 19 May 2025
Finding their tear gas ineffective in the freshening spring breeze and the crowd increasingly restive, the guardsmen retreated a short way.
—Kalyan Singhal, Baltimore Sun, 5 May 2025
At least six people, including four schoolchildren, were killed when a bomb hit a school bus in Pakistan’s restive southwestern Balochistan Province on Wednesday morning, officials said, the latest outbreak of violence in a region plagued by separatist insurgency and militancy.
—Zia Ur-Rehman, New York Times, 21 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for restive
Cite this Entry
“Restive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/restive. Accessed 9 Jun. 2025.
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