Restive

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Grammarist

Restive is an adjective used to describe something as restless or fidgety. Politically it is used to describe regions in unrest or without peace. Restive is also used in reference to horses when they refuse to move forward by standing still or sliding backwards.

Its derivatives include the adverb restively and the noun restiveness.

Restive has seen an absolute reversal in definitions. The original word came from the Old French word restif which meant to remain still. The association with horses is generally considered the reason for the reversal.

Examples

Twelve people have been sentenced to death for organizing attacks that left dozens of people dead in the restive western Chinese province of Xinjiang earlier this year. [CNN]

All this is not surprising given Beijing’s approach to other nominally autonomous regions that have grown restive. [The Australian]

Chinese authorities have launched a campaign to tighten restrictions on monastic life in a restive county in Tibet, ordering the destruction of recently built religious structures and demanding that younger monks be expelled from the monasteries and sent back to their family homes, according to sources. [Radio Free Asia]

The second reason to be bullish on Infosys is a restively strong dollar and Infosys stands to gain as the rupee depreciates. [Guru Focus]

To this end, the task of stemming youth restiveness and building a productive citizenry is not only the responsibility of the government, but also the private sector, religious bodies inclusive. [Nigerian Tribune]