dogged
1 Americanadjective
adjective
adjective
Synonym Usage
See stubborn.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dogged
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English: “having characteristics of a dog”; see dog, -ed 3
Explanation
Someone who's dogged is stubbornly persistent. In the old Looney Tunes cartoons, Wile E. Coyote's pursuit of the Road Runner is dogged. He simply will not give up. You can see the word dog within the word dogged. It's no trick. If you're dogged, you are as obstinate and tenacious as a dog who smells a bone. An earlier definition of this adjective was more general, meaning "having the qualities of a dog." Today, though, if someone describes you as dogged, they simply mean that you won't stop until you get what you want.
Vocabulary lists containing dogged
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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.
While artificial-intelligence disruption fears have dogged the sector this year, investors seem to be coming around to the view that some software-as-a-service companies will hold up better than others in the AI era.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
Stokes announced his shock international retirement earlier this summer and Brendon McCullum was sacked as Test coach after just two wins in 10 Tests - a run dogged by off-field issues.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Japan's defence minister paid his respects Saturday at a shrine honouring the country's war dead that has long dogged Tokyo's relations with its Asian neighbours, but Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stayed away.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
Russian-Japanese relations have long been dogged by the islands seized by the Soviet Union in 1945 at the end of World War II.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
The dogged regiment withdrew before them, sullen, dispirited, the fight knocked out of it.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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.
