Tenacious

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. Niggardly; closefisted; miserly. --Ainsworth.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     6. Holding stoutly to one's opinion or purpose; obstinate;
        stubborn.
        [1913 Webster] -- {Te*na"cious*ly}, adv. --
        {Te*na"cious*ness}, n.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  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}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  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