perseverate
Americanverb (used without object)
Usage
What does perseverate mean? To perseverate is to repeat something, such as words or actions, over and over again. Perseverate is used both in a general sense and in the more specific contexts of psychology and speech pathology. In this sense, the act of perseveration is the persistent repetition of a word, gesture, or act. This can be the result of a brain injury or a condition like schizophrenia. Example: I’m frustrated by the degree to which I have to perseverate just to get the students to follow simple rules.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of perseverate
First recorded in 1910–15; back formation from perseveration
Explanation
If you had a habit of continuing to wave goodbye long after your friend had left, you might say that you tend to perseverate, or repeat a gesture even after it's no longer appropriate or necessary. Most people who perseverate suffer from a brain injury, disorder, or illness, and the word is most often used as a medical term. It's almost as if someone who perseverates gets stuck on a word or gesture and can't stop repeating it. Perseverate contains the word "persevere," to continue determinedly, and perseverare, the Latin root, means "to persist." When you persist with clear intentions, you persevere, but when those intentions are lost and only the persistence remains, you perseverate.
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.
See Examples For:
Does she shrug stuff off, or perseverate at 3 a.m.?
From Washington Post ● Mar. 26, 2023
Kimberly Levaco doesn’t have time to perseverate; she’s aging at four times the normal speed and already looks 60-ish at 15.
From New York Times ● Jan. 19, 2023
Moreover, this isn't just about finding something better to do than perseverate about an exclusion that won't actually happen.
From Washington Post ● May 22, 2022
I don’t mean for you to clear your schedule and perseverate; quite the contrary.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 2, 2021
Since Sen. John Fetterman experienced a severe stroke last May, his long-term physical side effects—and how they influence his job—have been analyzed and perseverated over to the point of offense.
From Slate ● Feb. 22, 2023
Instead, they perseverated on an error about an actor’s hometown.
From Salon ● Dec. 21, 2013
Negativism is a state, he says, of perseverated muscular tension.
From Benign Stupors A Study of a New Manic-Depressive Reaction Type by MacCurdy, John T. (John Thompson)
He is likely to spend the weekend perseverating about every detail, he says.
From New York Times ● Jun. 15, 2024
But she’s not just perseverating or picking at old wounds.
From Slate ● Apr. 17, 2020
Desolate saxophone notes weaving through a perseverating synthesizer and rapidly tapping, tapping, tapping drum machine.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2017
When not perseverating or in a rage, Peter comes off as educated, well-spoken and on the edge of likable.
From New York Times ● May 28, 2015
As he stared at his tablet, Paul later told reporters that he was perseverating over that last play, pondering what he could have done better.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2015
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.
