tenacious

Intermediatezipf 3.04

Pronunciation

/tɪˈneɪʃəs/(tih-NAY-shus)

Part of speech

adjectiveneutral

Chinese

坚韧的；顽强的；执着的（不轻易放弃）

Definition

Holding firmly to something; persistent and determined despite difficulty.

Word family

  • tenacity/tɪˈnæsəti/(n)坚韧
  • tenaciously/tɪˈneɪʃəsli/(adv)坚韧地

Collocations

  • tenacious fighter
  • tenacious grip
  • tenacious pursuit
  • sheer tenacity

Examples

  1. 1.Her tenacious pursuit of justice inspired an entire movement. (persistent)
  2. 2.The team showed tenacious defending to hold onto their lead. (not giving up)

Synonyms

  • persistent/pəˈsɪstənt/— keeps going despite difficulty
  • determined/dɪˈtɜːmɪnd/— firmly decided
  • dogged/ˈdɒɡɪd/— stubbornly persistent

Etymology

from Latin "tenax" = holding fast — tenere (to hold) — holds on tightly