Sample sentences for PERSISTENT

(click/touch triangles for details)

Definition

continuing — especially despite difficulties or opposition

It is the kind of problem that can be solved if we are persistent in our efforts.

persistent = continue through difficulties

persistent = continuing

The forecast is for persistent heavy rains.
They alone were deaf to that persistent voice ... admonishing them, if they would be good and win, as I suppose, some shiny prize, to keep within certain limits which the gentleman in question thinks suitable—
Virginia Woolf -- A Room of One's Own

persistent = continuing despite opposition

"My mouse dance taught me that a mouse is persistent and bold," he said.
Ben Mikaeslen -- Touching Spirit Bear

persistent = (of a nature to) continue its efforts despite difficulties

As the service proceeded, the clergyman drew such pictures of the graces, the winning ways, and the rare promise of the lost lads that every soul there, thinking he recognized these pictures, felt a pang in remembering that he had persistently blinded himself to them always before, and had as persistently seen only faults and flaws in the poor boys.
Mark Twain -- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

persistently = always (in a continuing manner)

The thing inside the bundle of robes on the ground was stirring more persistently, as though it was trying to free itself.
J.K. Rowling -- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

persistently = continuously — despite difficulties

A marked and persistent identity disturbance is almost invariably present.
Susanna Kaysen -- Girl Interrupted
A persistent whine, like the insects only more steady with an edge of a roar to it, was in his ears...
Gary Paulsen -- Hatchet

persistent = continuing

It was as though a flame had been lit inside him that nothing, not Hermione's flat disbelief nor Ron's persistent doubts, could extinguish.
J.K. Rowling -- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

persistent = continuing

I followed him over a low whitewashed railroad fence, and we walked back a hundred yards along the road under Doctor Eckleburg's persistent stare.
F. Scott Fitzgerald -- The Great Gatsby

persistent = continuous

Then I would quietly but persistently punish myself.
Maya Angelou -- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
The Prime Minister did not know what to say to this, but a persistent habit of wishing to appear well-informed on any subject that came up made him cast around for any details he could remember of their previous conversations.
J.K. Rowling -- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

persistent = continuing

One did not know what happened inside the Ministry of Love, but it was possible to guess: tortures, drugs, delicate instruments that registered your nervous reactions, gradual wearing-down by sleeplessness and solitude and persistent questioning.
George Orwell -- 1984

persistent = continuing

The Minister's statement was met with dismay and alarm from the wizarding community, which as recently as last Wednesday was receiving Ministry assurances that there was "no truth whatsoever in these persistent rumours that You-Know-Who is operating amongst us once more."
J.K. Rowling -- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

persistent = continuing (despite efforts to stop them)

There is a patience of the wild—dogged, tireless, persistent as life itself—that holds motionless for endless hours the spider in its web, the snake in its coils, the panther in its ambuscade; this patience belongs peculiarly to life when it hunts its living food; and it belonged to Buck as he clung to the flank of the herd, retarding its march, irritating the young bulls, worrying the cows with their half-grown calves, and driving the wounded bull mad with helpless rage.
Jack London -- The Call of the Wild

persistent = continuing — especially despite difficulties or opposition

The persistent drizzle and cold had become a daily part of his life here on the island.
Ben Mikaeslen -- Touching Spirit Bear
People change two ways—with slow persistent pressure, or with a single and sudden traumatic experience.
Ben Mikaeslen -- Touching Spirit Bear
Momma persistently using the wrong verb, or none at all.
Maya Angelou -- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Cole swatted at the persistent mosquitoes and studied the bay.
Ben Mikaeslen -- Touching Spirit Bear

Search for other examples by interest

Interest — Source