doggedness

American  

[daw-gid-nis, dog-id-] / ˈdɔ gɪd nɪs, ˈdɒg ɪd- /

noun

1. persistence in effort; tenacity or perseverance.

   It was the team captain’s doggedness and never-say-die approach that helped us qualify for the Olympics.

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Etymology

Origin of doggedness

dogged ¹ ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )

Explanation

Doggedness is a quality of being stubborn and persistent, like the doggedness of a skateboarder attempting a new trick over and over again until they get it just right. When this word was first used in the 14th century, it meant "with the qualities of a dog," but not in a good way — to be dogged was to act nasty or surly, and doggedness was a quality of cruelty, like a really mean dog might have. Both words evolved over the years and now imply persistence and tenacity, like a dog digging determinedly for a bone it has buried in the yard.

Example Sentences

Rangers deserve credit for their doggedness in a crisis - and that's pretty much all you can say about a game that will scarcely see out the night in the memory bank.

From BBC • Aug. 31, 2025

Lee pursued stories and investigations with a doggedness in the South and later on the West Coast, revealing poverty and corruption in small towns in West Virginia and misuse of taxpayer dollars in Sacramento.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 15, 2025

Those numbers could be gathered in any number of means, each of which was in its own way a test of your resourcefulness, doggedness and the trust you’d earned.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 3, 2023

Often underestimated by his opponents and sometimes by his supporters, Sanchez gained a reputation for doggedness when, as opposition leader in 2016, he stuck to his "no means no" mantra against enabling a conservative government.

From Reuters • Jul. 6, 2023

Or imagine a country where Renee’s doggedness is not the exception, but a cultural trait, embedded as deeply as the culture of honor in the Cumberland Plateau.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell