- present participle of persevere.
persevering
Americanadjective
Usage
What does persevering mean? Persevering is used to describe people who persevere—continue to do or try to achieve something despite difficulty or discouragement. A close synonym is persistent. Persevering can also be used to describe the efforts of such people. The word is typically used in a positive way to describe people who don’t give up no matter what. A persevering person keeps trying despite major challenges and setbacks. Persevering is also the continuous tense (-ing form) of the verb persevere. People who are persevering are said to show perseverance, which is the quality of those who persevere, as in You showed great perseverance by recovering from your injury to compete at an even higher level. Example: Despite the many challenges they faced, our persevering students managed to finish what they started.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of persevering
Vocabulary lists containing persevering
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.
Persevering with an overly challenging route is an experience some climbers will be able to relate to.
From BBC • Feb. 28, 2026
"Persevering in China's own answers to shocks, rather than import answers found by the West, seems to be his thinking," said Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis.
From Reuters • Apr. 19, 2022
Persevering and renouncing mice self-stimulated for approximately the same time and with a similar number of events before foot-shock punishments began, yet the brains of the two groups seem to have changed in divergent ways.
From Nature • Dec. 18, 2018
Persevering in the service of others the doc was always thinking how he could make life better for his patients.
From Washington Times • Jun. 5, 2016
Persevering over the same trying surface as on the previous day, we sighted the ninety-mile-mound in the rear as a rift broke in the sky.
From The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 by Mawson, Douglas, Sir
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.
