resistant
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.not easily damaged or affected by something like water, heat, or chemicals.
adj.having the ability to withstand the effects of a specific physical or chemical agent without being damaged or altered.
Simple“This watch is water-resistant, so you can wear it while washing your hands.”
In context“The new strain of bacteria proved highly resistant to standard antibiotics, forcing the medical team to explore alternative treatment protocols.”
Usageoften followed by the preposition 'to'.
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.refusing to accept or agree with a new idea, plan, or change.
adj.offering opposition to a process, idea, or change; showing a psychological or social unwillingness to comply.
Simple“Some older employees were resistant to the new computer system at first.”
In context“The local community remained resistant to the proposed development, citing concerns over increased traffic and the loss of green space.”
Usageusually followed by the preposition 'to'.
- 03 C1 Advanced
adj.describes a result that does not change much even if there are a few very different numbers in a group.
adj.describing a statistical measure that is not significantly affected by outliers or extreme values in a sample.
Simple“The median is a resistant measure because one very high number won't change it much.”
In context“Statisticians prefer resistant estimators when dealing with datasets that may contain significant measurement errors or extreme outliers.”
Usageused primarily in the context of data analysis and statistics.
- 04 C1 Advanced
n.someone who fights against a government or an invading army, often in secret.
n.a person who belongs to a resistance movement or actively opposes an established authority or occupying force.
Simple“The young resistant risked his life to deliver secret messages during the war.”
In context“Historical records identify several key resistants who coordinated the underground network during the final months of the occupation.”
Antonyms
“Even so, many Western societies remain strongly resistant to entomophagy, or eating insects, despite the fact that hundreds of millions of people around the world already include insects in their diets.”
“Because SynthID pixels are spread throughout the image, they’re also resistant to cropping… at least to a point.”
From French résistant; equivalent to resist + -ant.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.