From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrefractoryre‧frac‧to‧ry /rɪˈfræktəri/ adjective1formalDISOBEY deliberately not obeying someone in authority and being difficult to deal with or controlSYN unruly2medical a refractory disease or illness is hard to treat or cureExamples from the Corpusrefractory• The tale of Gormenghast requires a large number of refractory animals, few of them capable of taking direction.• Initialtherapy of patients with large tumor masses has been complicated by large releases of intracellular potassium with resultantrefractory hyperkalemia.• Monamine oxidase inhibitors are used occasionally in migraine patients who are refractory to other prophylactic drugs.Originrefractory(1600-1700)Latinrefractarius, from refragari“to oppose”
