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

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How to use persistent in a sentence?

1. Johnny Depp:

   I was attacked yesterday morning by a very rarely seen or experienced animal called 'chupacabra.' I fought with it for hours. They're very persistent, very mean. And I'm pretty sure it came into my suitcase. I threw him off the 23rd floor. So we'll never see him again. Thank you for understanding.

2. Albert Einstein:

   Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.

3. Albert Einstein:

   Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.

4. Jeff Flake:

   They still have time to pass that bill, there's still clearly a persistent, urgent need to do that.

5. Ron Eddie:

   The number one reason people are leaving is the persistent pressure to 'BankofAmericanize' Merrill brokers.