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.

---

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

Surrey were grateful for Sibley who dug in with a doggedness that Warwickshire supporters know well from watching him pass 50 on 16 occasions at Edgbaston.

From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026

The memoir displays Dunthorne’s gift for wry understatement and his doggedness as a researcher: he dug through archives, toted around a Geiger counter and even cooked food that his great-grandfather once consumed.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 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

We lost the flare of excitement and we had not yet put on the doggedness of a long war.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck