tenaciousness C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities US /təˈneɪʃəsnəs/ UK /təˈneɪʃəsnəs/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun the quality of holding firmly to a course or purpose Her tenaciousness eventually wore down the opposition. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · the quality of holding... persistenceperseverancedeterminationtenacitydoggednessresolvesteadfastness ↔ Opposites irresolutionweaknessyielding Word family Related forms tenacioustenacitytenableretain Etymology AI details From tenacious + -ness. Tenacious is from Latin tenax ('holding fast, gripping'), from tenere ('to hold'). tenax Latin tenere Latin View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # tenaciousness **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /təˈneɪʃəsnəs/ **IPA (UK):** /təˈneɪʃəsnəs/ ## Meanings 1. the quality of holding firmly to a course or purpose ## Examples - Her tenaciousness eventually wore down the opposition. ## Synonyms - persistence - perseverance - determination - tenacity - doggedness - resolve - steadfastness ## Antonyms - irresolution - weakness - yielding ## Related Forms - tenacious - tenacity - tenable - retain ## Roots and Affixes - Root: tenax - Root: tenere ## Etymology From tenacious + -ness. Tenacious is from Latin tenax ('holding fast, gripping'), from tenere ('to hold'). ## AI Etymology Tenaciousness comes from tenacious + -ness. Tenacious is from Latin tenax ('holding fast, gripping'), from tenere ('to hold'). The historical chain includes Latin tenax and Latin tenere. The quoted older senses, "holding fast, gripping" and "to hold", supply the semantic anchors for tenaciousness. The formation is best read as suffixal and borrowed: the word tenaciousness carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "the quality of holding firmly to a course or purpose". Related English forms include tenacious, tenacity, tenable, and retain. The result is a noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization. ## Topics - Describing Qualities - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown