Meaning & use
persevere
Last updated
Meaning
verbintransitive
To keep trying to do something difficult, without giving up.
Grammar: No object; often followed by with, in or through: persevere with the plan.
Patterns
- persevere with something
- persevere in doing something
- persevere through something
She persevered with her studies even when the work became hard.
If you persevere, you will eventually learn the piano.
The team persevered through a long losing streak.
Word forms
| third person singular | perseveres |
|---|---|
| past tense | persevered |
| past participle | persevered |
| -ing form | persevering |
Common combinations
- persevere with
- He persevered with the treatment despite the side effects.
- persevere in the face of
- They persevered in the face of constant setbacks.
- persevere through hardship
- Many families persevered through hardship.
- persevere despite
- She persevered despite her injury.
Synonyms and how they differ
- persist
- Persist can sound stubborn or annoying, while persevere is almost always admiring.
- keep going
- Keep going is a casual way to say it and carries no sense of struggle.
- press on
- Press on stresses moving forward in a journey or task, often after a difficulty.
- endure
- Endure is about suffering through hardship, whereas persevere is about continuing to work toward a goal.
Opposites
Word family
- perseverance noun
- steady effort despite difficulty
- persevering adjective
- continuing to try despite difficulty
- perseveringly adverb
- in a way that shows steady effort
Commonly confused: persevere or preserve?
persevere vs preserve
Preserve means to keep something safe or unchanged. Persevere means to keep trying.
Practice
Although the climb was tiring, the hikers decided to ____ until they reached the top.
Choose one answer.
Persevere means to keep trying despite difficulty. Preserve, reserve and perceive look alike but have unrelated meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “persevere”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.