Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Restive
Rest′ive
(r?st′?v)
, Adj.
[OF.
. restif
, F. rétif
, 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.
Restive
or resty, drawing back, instead of going forward, as some horses do. E. Philips (1658).
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.
2.
Inactive; sluggish.
[Obs.]
Sir T. Browne.
3.
Impatient under coercion, chastisement, or opposition; refractory.
4.
Uneasy; restless; averse to standing still; fidgeting about; – applied especially to horses.
Trench.
Rest′ive
, adv.
Rest′ive-ness
, Noun.