Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🏃 A chased person 👀 Followed closely
pursued

pursued

8.1
A person or thing being chased, often in a story
  • noun
  • /pərˈsjuːd/
translation icon : perseguido
  • In the chase, the pursued had to use all their wits to escape.

Examples

  • In the story, the hero was the pursued, always running from the villain.

  • The detective focused on the suspect, who was the pursued in the case.

  • And the numbers were painted out on the boat and we were pursued by two.

  • Once again they were pursued out of Piedmont by the Swiss and the Spanish.

  • Maybe they flee because they believe they're being pursued by moles.

  • The Baker Ibn Waiyil pursued them, fighting fiercely.

  • At that time, the goddess was overseeing another sacred quest, pursued by a righteous monk named Tripitaka.

Synonyms

quarry
vspursued
11 7.7

An animal or person that others chase to catch

is used for any person or thing followed in a story rather than only prey
hunted person
vspursued
6.6

A person who is being chased and may be caught or hurt

is used more generally for being followed without implying harm

Antonyms

chaser
20 4.6

A person who runs after someone to try to catch them

How Chased

fugitive
213 6.6
prey
238 1.9
pursued
8.1
quarry
11 7.7
mark
262 4.9

Surface Forms

pursued singular
pursueds plural

Morphology

pursued = pursue (transparent) = pursue + ed

Formed by the regular past-participle suffix '-ed' on 'pursue', yielding the meaning 'being followed'; nominal use ('the pursued') is a straightforward nominalization of the past participle.

Etymology

The word pursued comes from Latin parts pro- ('forward') and sequi ('to follow'), so it means 'followed after'. Think of a story where someone is chased: the pursued is the person being followed or chased.