NSW Selective & Scholarship

Learn “Pertinacious

A free exam-vocabulary guide with a precise meaning, natural context and a memory connection that makes the word easier to retrieve.

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NSW Selective & Scholarship

Pertinacious

adjective/per-tin-AY-shus/

A pertinacious person holds on to a purpose or opinion with stubborn determination.

Her pertinacious effort to master the violin finally paid off at the concert.

It shares roots with 'tenacious' — both mean holding on and refusing to let go.

Can be admiring (determined) or critical (stubborn), so the context must show which.