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Definition of persistent adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

persistent

adjective
 
/pəˈsɪstənt/
 
/pərˈsɪstənt/
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  1. determined to do something despite difficulties, especially when other people are against you and think that you are being annoying or unreasonable
    • How do you deal with persistent salesmen who won't take no for an answer?
    • a persistent offender (= a person who continues to commit crimes after they have been caught and punished)
    • She can be very persistent when she wants something.
    Extra Examples
    • Beware of these people's persistent sales techniques.
    • He introduced a plan for dealing with persistent offenders.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    adverb
    • extremely
    • incredibly
    • really
    See full entry
  2. continuing for a long period of time, or repeated frequently, especially in a way that is annoying and cannot be stopped synonym unrelenting
    • Persistent heavy rain held up work on the bridge for more than a week.
    • The most common symptom is a persistent cough.
    • I can’t take much more of this persistent criticism.
    • He resigned over persistent rumours of his affair with an actress.
    • Famine is a persistent problem in many parts of the world.
    Extra Examples
    • The weeds were very persistent.
    • a stubbornly persistent unemployment problem
    • Conflict is a common and persistent feature of society.
    • Ear problems that are particularly painful or persistent should always be checked.
    • He resigned over persistent rumours of his part in the scandal.
    • Persistent pressure from the water authority forced the company to comply with the rules.
    • Poor maths teaching was a persistent problem in schools.
    • The problem of persistent shortages of food was turning into a crisis.
    • There is a persistent tendency for wage costs to continue to rise.
    • There were persistent reports of gross human rights abuses.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    adverb
    • extremely
    • incredibly
    • really
    See full entry
See persistent in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee persistent in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English

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perspective
noun
 
 
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