Synonyms

persist

American

[per-sist, -zist] / pərˈsɪst, -ˈzɪst /

verb (used without object)

to continue steadfastly or firmly in some state, purpose, course of action, or the like, especially in spite of opposition, remonstrance, etc..

to persist in working for world peace;
to persist in unpopular political activities.
to last or endure tenaciously.

The legend of King Arthur has persisted for nearly fifteen centuries.
to be insistent in a statement, request, question, etc.

Synonyms:

insist

verb (used with object)

Computers. to cause (a record, configuration, value, etc.) to be written to permanent storage by the scripted process that created it, so that it continues to exist in the same state after the script has finished running.

persist British

/ pəˈsɪst /

verb

(often foll by in) to continue steadfastly or obstinately despite opposition or difficulty
to continue to exist or occur without interruption

the rain persisted throughout the night

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

See continue.

Other Word Forms

nonpersisting adjective
persister noun
persistingly adverb
persistive adjective
persistively adverb
persistiveness noun
unpersisting adjective

Etymology

Origin of persist

First recorded in 1530–40; from Latin persistere, literally, “to stand firm permanently,” equivalent to per- per- ( def. ) + sistere “to (cause to) stand,” akin to stāre “to stand ( def. ) ”

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.

Speculative fever persists in many parts of the investing world, from the silver mania and artificial-intelligence boom to cryptocurrencies and Pokémon cards.

From The Wall Street Journal

This means the pseudogap is closely tied to subtle magnetic structures that persist beneath what initially appears to be disorder.

From Science Daily

“We expect significant outages to persist throughout the first half of the week followed by a swift recovery Sunday,” said Rystad Energy’s Matthew Bernstein.

From Barron's

But if their current form were to persist much longer, they could endure a difficult ending to a season currently being propped up by the Europa Conference League.

From BBC

As political uncertainty across the world persists, the price of gold— together with the share prices of major mining companies—look set to increase.

From Barron's

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023