Synonyms for persistent
pərˈsɪs tənt, -ˈzɪs-per·sis·tent

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:3.2 / 5 votes

1. persistent

   The headstrong person is not to be stopped in his own course of action, while the obstinate and stubborn is not to be driven to another's way. The headstrong act; the obstinate and stubborn may simply refuse to stir. The most amiable person may be obstinate on some one point; the stubborn person is for the most part habitually so; we speak of obstinate determination, stubborn resistance. Stubborn is the term most frequently applied to the lower animals and inanimate things. Refractory implies more activity of resistance; the stubborn horse balks; the refractory animal plunges, rears, and kicks; metals that resist ordinary processes of reduction are termed refractory. One is obdurate who adheres to his purpose in spite of appeals that would move any tender-hearted or right-minded person. Contumacious refers to a proud and insolent defiance of authority, as of the summons of a court. Pertinacious demand is contrasted with obstinate refusal. The unyielding conduct which we approve we call decided, firm, inflexible, resolute; that which we condemn we are apt to term headstrong, obstinate, stubborn. Compare PERVERSE.

   Synonyms:
   contumacious, decided, determined, dogged, firm, fixed, headstrong, heady, immovable, indomitable, inflexible, intractable, mulish, obdurate, obstinate, opinionated, pertinacious, refractory, resolute, resolved, stubborn, unconquerable, unflinching, unyielding

   Antonyms:
   amenable, complaisant, compliant, docile, dutiful, gentle, irresolute, obedient, pliable, pliant, submissive, teachable, tractable, undecided, wavering, yielding

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. persistent, relentless, unrelentingadjective

   never-ceasing

   "the relentless beat of the drums"

   Synonyms:
   unappeasable, inexorable, lasting, unrelenting, tenacious, relentless, dour, haunting, stern, unyielding, grim, dogged, unforgiving, brutal, pertinacious

   Antonyms:
   caducous, sporadic, deciduous, forgettable, docile, shed

2. haunting, persistentadjective

   continually recurring to the mind

   "haunting memories"; "the cathedral organ and the distant voices have a haunting beauty"- Claudia Cassidy

   Synonyms:
   lasting, unrelenting, tenacious, relentless, dour, haunting, unyielding, dogged, pertinacious

   Antonyms:
   sporadic, caducous, shed, deciduous, forgettable, docile

3. persistent, lastingadjective

   retained; not shed

   "persistent leaves remain attached past maturity"; "the persistent gills of fishes"

   Synonyms:
   permanent, lasting, durable, long-lived, unrelenting, tenacious, long-lasting, relentless, dour, haunting, unyielding, dogged, pertinacious

   Antonyms:
   forgettable, deciduous, shed, caducous, sporadic, docile

4. dogged, dour, persistent, pertinacious, tenacious, unyieldingadjective

   stubbornly unyielding

   "dogged persistence"; "dour determination"; "the most vocal and pertinacious of all the critics"; "a mind not gifted to discover truth but tenacious to hold it"- T.S.Eliot; "men tenacious of opinion"

   Synonyms:
   saturnine, relentless, sullen, grim, long, sour, morose, haunting, retentive, dark, unyielding, moody, tenacious, recollective, dour, coherent, lasting, pertinacious, dogged, glowering, forbidding, unrelenting, glum

   Antonyms:
   sporadic, docile, deciduous, shed, forgettable, caducous

Matched Categories

1. • Biology

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:3.0 / 1 vote

1. persistentadjective

   Synonyms:
   persevering, constant, steady

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. persistentadjective

   Synonyms:
   contumacious, persevering, insistent, pertinacious, tenacious, importunate, constant

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "persistent":

   pollutants, continuing, persistence, continued, ongoing, tenacious, continuous, constant, sustained, stubborn, persist, enduring, lingering, remanent, sticky, lasting, long-standing, unremitting, pattern, chronic, persistently, tireless, constants, intractable

How to pronounce persistent?

How to say persistent in sign language?

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use persistent in a sentence?

1. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen:

   These developments if they prove persistent, could weigh on the outlook for economic activity and the labor market.

2. Michal Szolucha:

   A while ago I suffered from persistent stomach pain and despite several appointments in the public service over a six-month period, no one carried out the tests I needed, however when I went to a doctor in a private clinic, within 48 hours all the tests were conducted and I got a diagnosis.

3. Candace Phaire:

   Since she was seven, she was begging me and her dad to start a charity, she was so persistent, every couple of months she would ask,' Are we starting Chelsea's Charity yet ?' When she was turning 10, she asked us again, and we decided it was time to go for it.

4. United States:

   Over the past few days, the US has hyped up the threat of war and created tension, which has severely impacted economic and social stability and people's lives in Ukraine and added obstacles to the dialogue and negotiation of relevant parties, such persistent inciting and spreading of false information by some people in the United States and the West have only added more turbulence and uncertainty to the world full of challenges, and intensified mistrust and division.

5. Alex Holmes:

   As such, persistent weakness in the aviation and retail and hospitality sector will hold back the recovery.