persistent Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite never-ceasing
    unrelenting; relentless.
    • the relentless beat of the drums
  2. adjective satellite continually recurring to the mind
    haunting.
    • haunting memories
    • the cathedral organ and the distant voices have a haunting beauty"- Claudia Cassidy
  3. adjective retained; not shed
    lasting.
    • persistent leaves remain attached past maturity
    • the persistent gills of fishes
  4. adjective satellite stubbornly unyielding
    tenacious; dour; dogged; unyielding; pertinacious.
    • 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

WordNet

Per*sist"ent adjective
Etymology
L. persistens, -entis, p.pr. of persistere. See Persist.
Definitions
  1. Inclined to persist; having staying qualities; tenacious of position or purpose.
  2. (Biol.) Remaining beyond the period when parts of the same kind sometimes fall off or are absorbed; permanent; as, persistent teeth or gills; a persistent calyx; -- opposed to deciduous, and caducous.

Webster 1913