strive
verb (used without object)
to exert oneself vigorously; try hard.
was striving
-
past progressiveof strive.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
Once that happened, the poor pastors—social and theological outsiders in a kingdom that was striving for a unified Prussian church—were doomed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
When she was a teenager growing up in Sweden, "Vogue represented the world out there, something glamorous and different and the wide horizons that I was striving for."
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2025
I was striving for more, for better, for faster.
From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2025
Watching him striving to tell stories through dance and he was striving to show the Black experience in a way.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2024
She let her hand he listlessly, as though her thoughts were elsewhere— somewhere in advance of her body, and she was striving to overtake them.
From "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin
