Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Tenacious \Te*na"cious\, a. [L. tenax, -acis, from tenere to
hold. See {Tenable}, and cf. {Tenace}.]
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.
Source : WordNet®
tenacious
adj 1: stubbornly unyielding; "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" [syn: {bulldog}, {dogged}, {dour}, {pertinacious},
{unyielding}]
2: (of memory) having greater than average range; "a long
memory especially for insults"; "a tenacious memory" [syn:
{long}]
3: sticking together; "two coherent sheets"; "tenacious burrs"
[syn: {coherent}]