What does "tenacious" mean?
Tenacious: Apt to retain; retentive; as, a tenacious memory.
Additional senses
- 2.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.
- 3.Apt to adhere to another substance; glutinous; viscous; sticking; adhesive. "Female feet, too weak to struggle with tenacious clay." Cowper.
- 4.Niggardly; closefisted; miserly. Ainsworth.
- 5.Holding stoutly to one's opinion or purpose; obstinate; stubborn. -- Te*na"cious*ly, adv. -- Te*na"cious*ness, n.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00