pertinacious

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 10, 2020 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>pertinacious</strong> &#149; \per-tuh-NAY-shus\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p><strong>1 a :</strong> adhering resolutely to an opinion, purpose, or design</p> <p><strong>b :</strong> perversely persistent</p> <p><strong>2 :</strong> stubbornly tenacious</p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"In fact, the exorcism was quite ineffectual upon the <em>pertinacious</em> demon, or whatever the apparition might be." — <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Marble_Faun/z24RAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&amp;gbpv=1&amp;dq=%22the+exorcism+was+quite+ineffectual+upon+the+pertinacious+demon%22&amp;pg=PA176&amp;printsec=frontcover">Nathaniel Hawthorne, <em>The Marble Faun</em>, 1859</a></p> <p>"Meldrum gave a convincing portrayal of the protagonist's downfall, from a <em>pertinacious</em> convict with goals and aspirations, to an increasingly fame-obsessed and ultimately unhappy free woman." — <a href="https://ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/cappies/cappies-review-woodroffes-production-of-chicago-is-delightfully-mischievous">Jagnoor Saran, <em>The Ottawa Citizen</em>, 14 Dec. 2018</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>Remove the first syllable of <em>pertinacious</em> and say what remains out loud: you'll hear something that sounds a lot like the word <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tenacious">tenacious</a></em>, meaning "tending to adhere or cling." The similarity between <em>pertinacious</em> and <em>tenacious</em> isn't mere coincidence; both words derive from <em>tenax</em>, the Latin word for "tenacious," and ultimately from the verb <em>tenēre</em>, meaning "to hold." Another descendant of <em>tenēre</em> is <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tenure">tenure</a></em>, a word that is typically used of the right to