Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of insistence
Explanation
Insistence is when someone persists in forcefully asking for or requiring something. A parent's insistence might be the only reason an unmotivated teenager sits down and does his homework. A store manager's insistence on selling things for the lowest prices might be the thing that keeps customers coming back, and your insistence on reading your speech first in class might get you to the front of the line. When you insist on something, you demand it — both words come from the Latin insistere, "persist, dwell upon, or stand upon," from in-, "upon," and sistere, "take a stand."
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.
They gave answers that showed calm, and an insistence that any change would not affect them.
From BBC • Jul. 4, 2026
Speaking in Chicago in 1858, Lincoln argued that those who couldn’t trace their ancestry to the revolutionary generation could nonetheless look to the Declaration’s insistence that “all men are created equal.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 2, 2026
That insistence reflects the strongest aspect of the majority opinion.
From Slate • Jun. 26, 2026
In the casino, Sarris eagerly greets his employees with a friendliness that betrays his repeated insistence that he’s a reclusive writer.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 24, 2026
None of us had really unpacked our things, on Liam’s insistence, but I had to collect my toothbrush and toothpaste from where I had left them next to Chubs’s in the bathroom.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
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.
