The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Refractory \Re*frac"to*ry\, n.
   1. A refractory person. --Bp. Hall.
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   2. Refractoriness. [Obs.] --Jer. TAylor.
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   3. OPottery) A piece of ware covered with a vaporable flux
      and placed in a kiln, to communicate a glaze to the other
      articles. --Knight.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Refractory \Re*frac"to*ry\ (-r?), a. [L. refractorius, fr.
   refringere: cf. F. refractaire. See Refract.]
   1. Obstinate in disobedience; contumacious; stubborn;
      unmanageable; as, a refractory child; a refractory beast.
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            Raging appetites that are
            Most disobedient and refractory.      --Shak.
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   2. Resisting ordinary treatment; difficult of fusion,
      reduction, or the like; -- said especially of metals and
      the like, which do not readily yield to heat, or to the
      hammer; as, a refractory ore.
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   Syn: Perverse; contumacious; unruly; stubborn; obstinate;
        unyielding; ungovernable; unmanageable.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

refractory
    adj 1: not responding to treatment; "a stubborn infection"; "a
           refractory case of acne"; "stubborn rust stains" [syn:
           refractory, stubborn]
    2: temporarily unresponsive or not fully responsive to nervous
       or sexual stimuli; "the refractory period of a muscle fiber"
    3: stubbornly resistant to authority or control; "a fractious
       animal that would not submit to the harness"; "a refractory
       child" [syn: fractious, refractory, recalcitrant]
    n 1: lining consisting of material with a high melting point;
         used to line the inside walls of a furnace [syn: furnace
         lining, refractory]