Tenacious \Te*na"cious\, a. [L. tenax, -acis, from tenere to
hold. See Tenable, and cf. Tenace.]
1. Holding fast, or inclined to hold fast; inclined to retain
what is in possession; as, men tenacious of their just
rights.
[1913 Webster]
2. Apt to retain; retentive; as, a tenacious memory.
[1913 Webster]
3. Having parts apt to adhere to each other; cohesive; tough;
as, steel is a tenacious metal; tar is more tenacious than
oil. --Sir I. Newton.
[1913 Webster]
4. Apt to adhere to another substance; glutinous; viscous;
sticking; adhesive. "Female feet, too weak to struggle
with tenacious clay." --Cowper.
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5. Niggardly; closefisted; miserly. --Ainsworth.
[1913 Webster]
6. Holding stoutly to one's opinion or purpose; obstinate;
stubborn.
[1913 Webster] --
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
tenacious
adj 1: 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" [syn: bulldog, dogged, dour, pertinacious,
unyielding]
2: (of memory) having greater than average range; "a long
memory especially for insults"; "a tenacious memory" [syn:
long]
3: sticking together; "two coherent sheets"; "tenacious burrs"
[syn: coherent]
WordNet (r) 2.0
222 Moby Thesaurus words for "tenacious":
adamant, adherent, adhesive, amylaceous, assiduous, balking, balky,
bigoted, bound, bound and determined, bulldogged, bulldoggish,
bulldoggy, bulletheaded, bullheaded, cartilaginous, case-hardened,
chewy, clabbered, clammy, clinging, clingy, clotted, coagulated,
cohesive, committed, constant, continuing, coriaceous, curdled,
decided, decisive, dedicated, definite, determined, devoted,
diligent, dogged, dogmatic, doughy, durable, earnest, enduring,
faithful, fanatic, fibrous, firm, fixed, game, gamy, gaumy,
gelatinous, glairy, gluelike, gluey, glutenous, glutinose,
glutinous, good, gooey, grasping, gripping, gristly, gritty,
grumous, gumbo, gumbolike, gumlike, gummous, gummy, gutsy, gutty,
hard, hardheaded, hardy, headstrong, heavy, holding, immovable,
immutable, inalterable, indefatigable, indomitable, industrious,
inflexible, insistent, inspissated, intolerant, intransigent,
invincible, jelled, jellied, jellylike, keeping, lasting,
leatherlike, leathery, loyal, maintaining, mettlesome,
mucilaginous, mulish, nervy, never-tiring, obdurate, obstinate,
opinionated, overzealous, pasty, patient, patient as Job,
permanent, perseverant, persevering, persistent, persisting,
pertinacious, pigheaded, plodding, plucky, plugging, preoccupied,
purposeful, rapt, red-blooded, refractory, relentless, resistant,
resolute, resolved, restive, retaining, retentive, rigid, ropy,
secure, sedulous, self-adhesive, self-willed, serious, set,
sincere, sinewy, single-minded, slabby, sleepless, slimy, slithery,
slogging, spirited, spiritful, spunky, stable, stalwart, starchy,
staunch, steadfast, steady, stickable, sticky, stiff, stiff-necked,
stodgy, stout, stringy, strong, strong-minded, strong-willed,
strongheaded, stubborn, sturdy, sulky, sullen, syrupy, tacky,
thick, thickened, tight, tireless, tough, tough as leather,
tremelloid, tremellose, true, unabating, uncompromising,
unconquerable, uncooperative, undaunted, undiscouraged, undrooping,
unfailing, unfaltering, unflagging, unflinching, unintermitting,
uninterrupted, unnodding, unregenerate, unrelaxing, unrelenting,
unremitting, unshakable, unshakeable, unshaken, unsleeping,
unswerving, untiring, unwavering, unwearied, unwearying, unwinking,
unyielding, utterly attentive, vigorous, viscid, viscose, viscous,
weariless, wholehearted, willful, wiry
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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