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.
Bass has been dogged by high unfavorable ratings since the Palisades fire, which broke out in January 2025 while she was out of the country, destroying thousands of homes and leaving 12 dead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Hence the film’s clunky equivalence of Hansen’s dogged chase to that of the American army.
From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026
Earl Spencer depicts her as a caring, generous character who was haunted by self-doubt, dogged by eating disorders, lacking in warmth from her new royal family and then ultimately dragged down by the tabloid media.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
The site in the southern city of Taranto has been dogged by legal and political battles since 2012 over toxic emissions.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
She continued her dogged pursuit of Everest just the same.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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.
