Refrattari

Refrattari is the plural form of the Italian adjective refrattario and is used in several fields to denote resistance, non-responsiveness, or high-temperature endurance. In general Italian, refrattario describes something that resists yielding to influence, change, or treatment. The form refrattari modifies masculine plural nouns or refers to a group characterized by refractory qualities.

In medicine and related disciplines, refrattari appears in phrases such as malattia refrattaria or pazienti refrattari al trattamento, indicating diseases or patients that do not respond to standard therapies. This usage is common in oncology, neurology, and infectious diseases, where alternative or experimental approaches may be explored for refrattary cases.

In materials science and industry, refrattari is used in the context of refractory materials—substances that withstand very high temperatures without melting or breaking down. Materials described as refrattari include bricks, ceramics, and other components used in furnaces, kilns, and reactors, where thermal stability is essential.

The term also appears in everyday language to describe people or groups resistant to change or authority, such as una popolazione refrattaria al cambiamento. The concept carries a shared sense of endurance and opposition to certain stimuli, linking it to the English term refractory and its Latin-root ideas of resistance.

See also: refractory material, refractory disease, refractory period.