hard or impossible to manage; stubbornly disobedient

a refractory child.

resisting ordinary methods of treatment.

difficult to fuse, reduce, or work, as an ore or metal.

a material having the ability to retain its physical shape and chemical identity when subjected to high temperatures.

refractories, bricks of various shapes used in lining furnaces.

noun

disorderliness , fractiousness , indocility , intractability , intractableness , obstinacy , obstinateness , obstreperousness , recalcitrance , recalcitrancy , uncontrollability , uncontrollableness , ungovernableness , unmanageability , untowardness , wildness