Word to describe someone doing something even though told not to

Question

I'm looking ideally for a word to describe someone who does something even when they're told not to. Like, if they're told not to do something like a dare, or just to not go and do such-and-such, they will do it. In fact, it will only make them more determined that they can do it.

Examples:

She was described as ___ because she was told to not go to the party, but did it anyways.

She was called ___ since her father told her to not do any stupid dares but she didn't listen to him.

He has a tendency to be ___ - he likes to prove he can do it, despite others telling him he can't.

Thanks for your answers!

Answer 1

I have always used contrary:

[Merriam-Webster]
2 : being not in conformity with what is usual or expected
// actions contrary to company policy
// contrary evidence
4 : temperamentally unwilling to accept control or advice

So:

She was described as contrary because she was told to not go to the party, but did it anyways.

She was called contrary since her father told her to not do any stupid dares but she didn't listen to him.

He has a tendency to be contrary—he likes to prove he can do it, despite others telling him he can't.

Answer 2

If it is a child, naughty, a naughty child. If it is a teenager, rebellious, so a rebel. If it is a work colleague, awkward or contrary . If it is political, dissent, so dissenter. However, I am not sure if this is what your looking for. A person who always does as requested could be said to be compliant so the opposite would be disobedient.

disobedient; adjective: refusing to do what someone in authority tells you to do:

naughty adjective When children are naughty, or their behaviour is naughty, they behave badly or do not do what they are told to do:

rebellious If someone is rebellious, they are difficult to control and do not behave in the way that is expected:

awkward adjective (NOT HELPFUL) mainly uk intentionally not helpful:

contrary adjective (NOT REASONABLE) A contrary person wants to disagree with and annoy other people:

dissent noun a strong difference of opinion on a particular subject, especially about an official suggestion or plan or a popular belief:

ALL Referenced from the Cambridge English Dictionary

Answer 3

I would say either "defiant" or "recalcitrant" might be words worth considering. I think "defiant" is a better word for what you've described.

defiant
marked by resistance or bold opposition, as to authority; challenging
Collins Dictionary

full of or showing a disposition to challenge, resist, or fight
Merriam-Webster Dictionary

In other dictionaries "defiant" is defined as showing or having "defiance".

defiance
1 : the act or an instance of defying : challenge jailed for defiance of a court order
2 : disposition to resist : willingness to contend or fight dealing with a child's defiance
Merriam-Webster Dictionary

"Recalcitrant" or many other words may fit also.

recalcitrant
1.resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant:
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary

But I think "defiant" is a better fit for someone who goes against what they are supposed to or instructed to do just because it's in their nature to do the opposite. They "defy" the instructions or advice given to them, they fight against or oppose them. "Recalcitrant", although also able to mean "defiant", may just mean "stubborn" or difficult to handle.

Also, "defiant" is easily a better word than "recalcitrant" in your last example:

He has a tendency to be ______ --he likes to prove he can do it, despite others telling him he can't.

Answer 4

I would describe her as recalcitrant. From Merriam-Webster:

recalcitrant

adjective

1. obstinately defiant of authority or restraint
2. a : difficult to manage or operate
   b : not responsive to treatment
   c : RESISTANT

   this subject is recalcitrant both to observation and to experiment
   — G. G. Simpson

Answer 5

Willful.

Which means ‘having a mind of her own’, and not ‘doing what she’s told.

Willful literally means ‘full of will’ - having a strong will, self-determining.

It’s described as ‘a bad thing’ in this dictionary link but it isn’t necessarily.

If you wanted the child to practise the violin, her being ‘willful about practising’ wouldn’t be bad. It’s just where you’re trying to get them to eat their rice-pudding, and they won’t, that willful gets a bad name. Imho.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/willful

‘willfull’ works in all three of your examples.

Answer 6

For 2 and 3, you can use stubborn, which means persisting in doing something even though you've been told not to, or has been ineffective in the past.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/stubborn

stubborn

1. disapproving A stubborn person is determined to do what he or she wants and refuses to do anything else:

They have huge arguments because they're both so stubborn.

2. Things that are stubborn are difficult to move, change, or deal with:

He was famed for his stubborn resistance and his refusal to accept defeat.

Stubborn stains can be removed using a small amount of detergent.

Answer 7

In a work context, the person would be said to be insubordinate, which has a definition of "disobedient to authority" according to Merriam-Webster dictionary.

An example of its use from that site is "The investigation focused on what the agency deemed to be unprofessional, insubordinate and profane emails and chat messages to her colleagues, including several in Oregon City."

Answer 8

A contrarian, perhaps? Do as you please. You’re going to anyway!

From Wiktionary:

A person who likes or tends to express a contradicting viewpoint, especially one who denounces the majority persuasion.

Answer 9

pigheaded (adj.)

Willfully or perversely unyielding : obstinate

He was too pigheaded to listen to my suggestion.

the kind of pigheaded person who seems to believe that facts only confuse an issue

M-W

Having a head like that of a pig. Chiefly figurative: stupidly obstinate, perverse, or set in one's ways.
[OED]

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You may remember that the skipper was a pig-headed fellow who ignored the warning of an observant old salt who had noticed that there was no moon about that night.
Dominic Lewis; A London Farrago (1922)

Answer 10

For a noun, you could describe the person as a line-stepper, indicating someone who ignores established boundaries to do something thy are not supposed to - they are one who figuratively steps "over the line". The phrase is often seen as "habitual line-stepper", describing a person who defies external limitations with regularity. It carries a connotation of small, rather than serious infractions.

Answer 11

An often workable solution is to reuse the predicate of the dependent clause. So I'd look for adjectives reflecting not listening. In fact not listening is an adverbial phrase, so what more could one want?

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disobedient is thought to be equal to dis- + audio. That is however not recognizable anymore. (There's also reason to believe the word had other connotations of not belonging, which was requested to be edited out).

A more naive variant would be deaf, "unable to hear", in certain cases tone deaf "ignorant of the implications; insensitive*. This is rather offensive. stupor has a sense of simple, which is likewise reflected in idiotic, and might go along with ego-ism (caring only about ones own opinion and feelings). That does not work well in the bigger picture in which peers are the motivation. Neither do "naughty", "rebellious", etc fit there. I'd avoid going with a emotionally loaded thickheaded, stubborn, too.

Less emotionally loaded would be

disregardful

ignorant

which express the lack of perception metaphorically.

There's also

irresponsible

...

Overall the question is one of Psychology and Socio-Linguistic. Subsuming that under a lay man's understanding by the proxy of a fictive objective judge ("she was called ..." by whom?) is effectively yielding subjective answers from each one's individual perspective. In that sense I'd assume, she was called "pretty bad-ass" by her friends.

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last but not least, more formal variants of stubborn would be

persistent

obstinate

1. Stubbornly adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course, usually with implied unreasonableness; persistent.

   From this consideration it is that we have derived the custom, in times of war, to punish […] those who are obstinate to defend a place that by the rules of war is not tenable