incessant

[in-ses-uhnt]

adjective

1. continuing without interruption; unending; ceaseless.

   an incessant noise.

   Synonyms: unremitting, unrelenting, eternal, perpetual, never-ending, continuous, constant, unceasing
   Antonyms: intermittent

incessant

/ ɪnˈsɛsənt /

adjective

1. not ceasing; continual

Other Word Forms

• incessancy noun
• incessantness noun
• incessantly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of incessant¹

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English incessaunte, from Late Latin incessant-, equivalent to Latin in- negative prefix + cessant- (stem of cessāns ), present participle of cessāre “to stop work”; in- ³, cease, -ant

Word History and Origins

Origin of incessant¹

C16: from Late Latin incessāns, from Latin _in- ¹ + cessāre to _cease

Example Sentences

With weeks to go, Will says the calls and emails to Star Gaze from people asking where their tickets were had become incessant.

Read more on BBC

U-boats, Mr. Moorhouse tells us, were also plagued by malfunctioning torpedoes, mechanical failures and, eventually, the incessant—and often successful—depth-charge attacks of Allied warships.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Freedom, Nehru continued, as not an end but a beginning - "not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving".

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Imagine “the incessant clack of cowboy boots against the cobblestones” that could have been, he thinks.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"Iraq has seen the American army, then civil war between Sunnis and Shiites, and now there's ISIS. We've been through many incessant conflicts, but we still need peace because we believe in humanity," she said.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• ceaseless 
• constant 
• continual 
• continuous 
• endless 
• interminable 
• nonstop 
• perpetual 
• relentless 
• round-the-clock 
• unceasing 
• unending 
• unrelenting 
• unremitting