tenacious
22
7.1
- adjective
- /təˈneɪʃəs/
:
tenaz
- She was tenacious in pursuing her dream of becoming a doctor, never letting setbacks discourage her.
- tenacious belief
- tenacious opponent
It sucks, but like you're more tenacious than other people.
- It sucks, but like you're more tenacious than other people.
- But Rick just is like very hard headed, I guess, like the most tenacious person ever.
- So my mum is tenacious, very honest, she gets things done.
- You, you know, you have to be, you have to be tenacious.
- But if you're tenacious, if you're resilient, you cross the finishing line.
- You know, once once you got in Hitchens sights, he was pretty tenacious.
- Can take hours of concentrated effort, can take days, weeks of tenacious effort.
- People are questioning his height, you know, and he's, he's shown glimpses last year of how tenacious he is.
- And my mom, being the tenacious truck driver she is, she was driving for Kevin Hart's What Now tour.
- certainly extremely tenacious and and then just work like hell. I mean, you just have to put in,
- I just tell every young actor be tenacious, and if they don't hire you, it's their problem, it's their mistake.
- You, you get appointments and you meet with people and you pitch them and you have to be super, super tenacious and, and very persistent and polite.
Examples
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Despite numerous obstacles, he remained tenacious, determined to finish the project on time.
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The team's tenacious defense made it difficult for their opponents to score any points.
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Be your best, most tenacious self this summer.
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Well, they can be tenacious when they want something.
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Still, over the years, those who knew her well had learned how tenacious she was.
Fiction book (1999) -
So my mum is tenacious, very honest, she gets things done.
-
You know, Johnny Lee Miller was just a tenacious, fantastic actor.
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It's going to need four or five new faces, energetic, young, hungry, tenacious players.
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Nancy Astor was strong, tenacious and brave.
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Where the militia excelled was in the tenacious defense of the local community.
Academic text (2000)
Synonyms
43
4.4
Continuing with an action despite problems or opposition
19
4.3
A person who decides to do something and does not change their mind
10
6.5
Very firm in decisions and not willing to change or give up
1
9.8
Refusing to change an opinion or plan
1
4.7
Being very determined and refusing to give up
Very determined and unwilling to give up when trying to reach a goal
Antonyms
How Determined
131
5.1
22
7.1
43
4.4
399
2.5
3
5.5
73
3.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
tenacious = tenacity (transparent) = tenac + ous
The figurative sense of persistently holding to an idea or goal follows directly from the base meaning of 'holding fast'.
Etymology
Tenacious comes from the Latin root tenere meaning 'to hold', the same idea behind tenure or keeping something. So a tenacious person 'holds on' to a goal or idea and does not give up.