|

pertinacious

If you won’t take no for an answer, you’re pertinacious. The same holds true if you stubbornly push on a door despite a sign that says “pull.” Pertinacious means unyielding or perversely persistent.

We get pertinacious from the Latin pertinx, which combines per- "thoroughly" with tenx "tenacious." You can impress your friends by dropping pertinacious into conversation when referring to anyone who is bullheaded and obstinately stuck in their ways and opinions. If a Girl Scout is a pertinacious salesperson you might buy fifty boxes of Thin Mints when you only wanted one.

DEFINITIONS OF: pertinacious

1

adj stubbornly unyielding

“the most vocal and pertinacious of all the critics”
Synonyms:
dogged, dour, persistent, tenacious, unyielding
obstinate, stubborn, unregenerate
tenaciously unwilling or marked by tenacious unwillingness to yield
WORD FAMILY
USAGE EXAMPLES