Meaning & use
pertinacity
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Meaning
noununcountableformal
A stubborn refusal to give up an opinion or a plan, shown by sticking at it long after others would have stopped.
Grammar: Not used with an or a plural: she showed great pertinacity, not a pertinacity.
Patterns
- pertinacity in something
- with pertinacity
The reporter pursued the story with such pertinacity that the council finally released the documents.
It was pure pertinacity, not talent, that carried him through ten years of rejected manuscripts.
Her pertinacity in defending the old timetable irritated everyone on the committee.
Common combinations
- sheer pertinacity
- The deal was won by sheer pertinacity rather than clever tactics.
- show pertinacity
- The young lawyer showed pertinacity when the first appeal failed.
- with pertinacity
- He argued his case with pertinacity for three hours.
- pertinacity in pursuit of
- Her pertinacity in pursuit of the truth made her a respected investigator.
- admire someone's pertinacity
- I admire your pertinacity, even if I think the plan is hopeless.
Synonyms and how they differ
- persistence
- Persistence is the everyday word and is usually neutral or positive, whereas pertinacity sounds formal and often hints at stubbornness.
- tenacity
- Tenacity stresses a firm grip on a goal and is nearly always admiring, while pertinacity can suggest an unreasonable refusal to yield.
- obstinacy
- Obstinacy is openly critical and means refusing to change your mind, whereas pertinacity focuses more on sticking at an effort.
- perseverance
- Perseverance describes steady effort through difficulty and is more clearly praise than pertinacity.
Opposites
Word family
- pertinacious adjective
- holding firmly and stubbornly to a purpose or opinion
- pertinaciously adverb
- in a stubbornly persistent way
- pertinaciousness noun
- a rarer, equivalent noun for the same quality
Commonly confused: pertinacity or pertinence?
pertinacity vs pertinence
Pertinence means relevance to the matter at hand; it has nothing to do with stubbornness, although the two words look alike.
Practice
Which sentence uses pertinacity correctly?
Choose one answer.
Pertinacity means stubborn persistence, which fits the first sentence. The second and third confuse it with pertinence (relevance), and the fourth has no link to the meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pertinacity”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.