tenacious
[tuh-ney-shuh s]
- holding fast; characterized by keeping a firm hold (often followed by of): a tenacious grip on my arm; tenacious of old habits.
- highly retentive: a tenacious memory.
- pertinacious, persistent, stubborn, or obstinate.
- adhesive or sticky; viscous or glutinous.
- holding together; cohesive; not easily pulled asunder; tough.
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Origin of tenacious
Synonyms
See more synonyms for tenacious on Thesaurus.com3. opinionated, dogged. 4. clinging.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for tenacious
Contemporary Examples
For half a century, Ferencz, a tenacious 95-year-old, has been on his own Lemkin-esque campaign.
But tenacious Albanian partisans kept reinserting the claim.
Ware, a tenacious pass-rusher, is a 7-time Pro Bowler and the Cowboys all-time leader in sacks, with 117 in nine seasons.
Attention all you Darwinists still battling the tenacious Creationists (and losing miserably)!
“The only way to get justice is to patient and persistent and tenacious,” Browder says.
Historical Examples
He knew that here was a bold and tenacious spirit, kin to that of Grant.
The Rock of ChickamaugaJoseph A. Altsheler
My mother's imagination was as vivacious, but not as tenacious as my own.
Tales And Novels, Volume 9 (of 10)Maria Edgeworth
She seldom showed any anger; but when she did it was tenacious, and slow to be appeased.
The Fat and the ThinEmile Zola
Ganymede was of a tenacious mettle, and of this he now afforded proof.
Bardelys the MagnificentRafael Sabatini
To the man who had done him some service, of tenacious memory.
AgesilausXenophon
tenacious
- holding or grasping firmly; forcefula tenacious grip
- retentivea tenacious memory
- stubborn or persistenta tenacious character
- holding together firmly; tough or cohesivetenacious cement
- tending to stick or adheretenacious mud
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin tenāx, from tenēre to hold
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for tenacious
adj.
c.1600, from Latin tenaci-, from tenax "holding fast" (see tenacity). Related: Tenaciously; tenaciousness.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
tenacious
(tə-nā′shəs)- Clinging to another object or surface; adhesive.
- Holding together firmly; cohesive.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.