contumacious |ˌkänt(y)əˈmā sh əs|adjective archaic or Law(esp. of a defendant's behavior) stubbornly or willfully disobedient to authority.DERIVATIVEScontumaciously adverbORIGIN late 16th cent.: from Latin contumax,contumac- (perhaps from con- ‘with’ + tumere ‘to swell’ ) + -ious .
I don't remember where I picked up this little gem, but I suspect it was one of the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries I was listening to. Against my expectations, I rather enjoyed the stories. The prose and attitudes are remarkably fresh despite being written almost a century ago. Probably more so than some contemporary novels set in the same time period.
Not one I'm familiar with, but I like it.
ReplyDeleteIt has a certain zing to it.
Delete