assert
verb (used with object)
to state with assurance, confidence, or force; state strongly or positively; affirm; aver.
had been asserting
-
past perfect progressiveof assert.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
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.
For the 18 months since his resignation as defense secretary in December 2018, Mattis had been asserting a “duty of silence” as a former military commander not to directly criticize the president.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 4, 2020
He admitted, what many had been asserting for weeks, that the Centenary was going to be a big thing; and his social instinct wished him to share in the pride of it.
From Clayhanger by Arnold Bennett
For three centuries she had been asserting the rights of her government to direct spiritual as well as temporal matters.
From The Age of the Reformation by Preserved Smith
Meanwhile the Sikh power had been asserting itself in the eastern Punjab, and in 1765 the Ghakkar chief was defeated by Sirdar Gujar Singh, chief of the Bhangi confederacy.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 6 "Groups, Theory of" to "Gwyniad" by Various
But the Ancram strain in him had been asserting itself lately.
From A Charming Fellow, Volume I (of 3) by Frances Eleanor Trollope
