perseverance
/ˌpɜːsəˈvɪəɹəns/
perseverance · noun — continuing in a course of action without regard to discouragement, opposition or previous failure. It carries an Arena rating of 1661, earned across 10 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, perseverance ranks #479 of 42,854 for Qualifying, #967 of 17,144 for Most Malleable Words, #1,893 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #4,955 of 17,134 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
perseverance is pronounced /ˌpɜːsəˈvɪəɹəns/.
Why “perseverance” is a great word
The steadfast continuance in a course of action despite discouragement, opposition, or repeated failure. From Middle English perseveraunce, from Old French perseverance, from Latin persevērantia ('persistence, constancy'), from persevērāns, present participle of persevērāre ('to continue steadfastly'). Unlike 'obstinacy,' which is a stubborn, often unreasonable adherence, or the neutral generality of 'persistence,' perseverance is the specifically praiseworthy endurance of adversity. It is the hand calloused from a thousand attempts, the manuscript rebuilt from the ruins of its sixth draft, the quiet, daily refusal to let a dream be defined by its setbacks—a testament to the human capacity to find motion in the very inertia that seeks to halt it.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From Middle English perseveraunce, from Old French perseverance, from Latin persevērantia.
noun
- Continuing in a course of action without regard to discouragement, opposition or previous failure.e.g.“It had taken nine years from the evening that Truman first showed up with a pie plate at her mother's door, but his dogged perseverance eventually won him the hand of his boyhood Sunday school crush.” — 2004, Chris Wallace, Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- perseverant 75% match — Enduring; persistent, resistant. vs perseverance →
- persevere 74% match — To persist steadfastly in pursuit of an undertaking, task, journey, or goal, even if hindered by distraction, difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement. vs perseverance →
- perseveringly 72% match — In a persevering manner; with perseverance. vs perseverance →
- perseveringness 71% match — The state or condition of being persevering. vs perseverance →
- perseverer 71% match — One who perseveres. vs perseverance →
- perseverating 65% match — Exhibiting perseveration; persisting, continuing. vs perseverance →
- endure 65% match — To continue or carry on, despite obstacles or hardships; to persist. vs perseverance →
- pertinacity 64% match — The state or characteristic of being pertinacious. vs perseverance →