Tenacious Meaning
/təˈneɪʃəs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjClinging to an object or surface; adhesive.
adjUnwilling to yield or give up; dogged.
Sentence Examples
To survive in a hostile environment, one must be able to improvise and be tenacious.
Metaphors are much more tenacious than facts.
The detective was tenacious in his search for the missing evidence.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ grip of the climber saved him from falling off the steep cliff.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She is a very ____ researcher who never gives up until she finds the answer to a difficult scientific question today.
Word Origin & History
From Latin tenāx (“holding fast, clinging”), from tenēre (“to hold”), + -ious.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The quagmiry road, trodden into tenacious paste by the long file of human beings ahead […]"
— 1873, Henry Morton Stanley, My Kalulu, Prince, King, and Slave:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ grip of the climber saved him from falling off the steep cliff.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She is a very ____ researcher who never gives up until she finds the answer to a difficult scientific question today.