pertinent
Americanadjective
adjective
Synonym Usage
See apt.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pertinent
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin pertinent- (stem of pertinēns ), present participle of pertinēre “to be applicable, pertain”; see pertain, -ent
Explanation
Something pertinent is relevant and on-point. If you give your best friend pertinent advice, that means the advice is appropriate for the situation. Something pertinent is related to the current topic or situation — and probably helpful too. If you're in math class and you make a comment about World War I, that's likely not pertinent. If you're in music class and you talk about a cello, that probably is pertinent. Pertinent things are appropriate and logical. In most situations, people like to get comments and questions that are pertinent — anything else can just seem like a distraction.
Vocabulary lists containing pertinent
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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Grade 10, List 2
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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.
What a glorious, warm and strangely pertinent observation — something Eleanor couldn’t have understood the relevance of at the time.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
The “new” in that rejoinder is doubly pertinent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
“And I think that’s the realization: There’s a lot of joy in getting rid of what is unnecessary and is not pertinent anymore.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
She advised the state to take "special care" not to misplace or accidentally delete any information that may be pertinent to the case.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
There are some very pertinent reasons why this memory has remained with me, as I wish to explain.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
