tenacious Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective good at remembering
    recollective; long; retentive.
    • a retentive mind
    • tenacious memory
  2. adjective satellite stubbornly unyielding
    dour; dogged; persistent; unyielding; pertinacious.
    • dogged persistence
    • dour determination
    • the most vocal and pertinacious of all the critics
    • a mind not gifted to discover truth but tenacious to hold it"- T.S.Eliot
    • men tenacious of opinion
  3. adjective satellite sticking together
    coherent.
    • two coherent sheets
    • tenacious burrs

WordNet

Te*na"cious adjective
Etymology
L. tenax, -acis, from tenere to hold. See Tenable, and cf. Tenace.
Definitions
  1. Holding fast, or inclined to hold fast; inclined to retain what is in possession; as, men tenacious of their just rights.
  2. Apt to retain; retentive; as, a tenacious memory.
  3. 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.
  4. Apt to adhere to another substance; glutinous; viscous; sticking; adhesive. "Female feet, too weak to struggle with tenacious clay." Cowper.
  5. Niggardly; closefisted; miserly. Ainsworth.
  6. Holding stoutly to one's opinion or purpose; obstinate; stubborn. -- Te*na"cious*ly, adv. -- Te*na"cious*ness, n.

Webster 1913