dogged
1 Americanadjective
adjective
adjective
Synonym Usage
See stubborn.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dogged
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English: “having characteristics of a dog”; see dog, -ed 3
Explanation
Someone who's dogged is stubbornly persistent. In the old Looney Tunes cartoons, Wile E. Coyote's pursuit of the Road Runner is dogged. He simply will not give up. You can see the word dog within the word dogged. It's no trick. If you're dogged, you are as obstinate and tenacious as a dog who smells a bone. An earlier definition of this adjective was more general, meaning "having the qualities of a dog." Today, though, if someone describes you as dogged, they simply mean that you won't stop until you get what you want.
Vocabulary lists containing dogged
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Even as the administration has been dogged by record-high prices, American cattle and rancher groups have pushed back against importing foreign beef.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
England's tour was dogged by poor performances on the field and issues off it, all under huge scrutiny from the local media.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
While artificial-intelligence disruption fears have dogged the sector this year, investors seem to be coming around to the view that some software-as-a-service companies will hold up better than others in the AI era.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
Russian-Japanese relations have long been dogged by the contested islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and seized by the Soviet Union in 1945.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
But back on the ground, he was dogged by nightmares filled with the faces of the men who died.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
