pertinacious
/ˌpɜːtɪˈneɪʃəs/
"pertinacious" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pertinacious” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Holding tenaciously to an opinion or purpose.
Corpus desk
Index EN-pertinacious · pertinacious · English
pertinacious · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-6 6 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pertinacious |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˌpɜːtɪˈneɪʃəs/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “pertinacious” in English
Rare enough to double-check
pertinacious is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˌpɜːtɪˈneɪʃəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for pertinacious, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From pertinace + -ious, from Old French pertinace, from Latin pertinax, from per- (“very”) + tenax (“tenacious”). The correct English form is pertinacious, spelled P-E-R-T-I-N-A-C-I-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1Holding tenaciously to an opinion or purpose.
- 2Stubbornly resolute or tenacious.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how pertinacious appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
When that divine took his leave, not a little discomfited and amazed at the pertinacious obstinacy of the women, Laura repeated her embraces and arguments with tenfold fervour to Helen, who felt that there was a great deal of cogency in most of the latter.
He would really have to make up his mind to care for his wife or not to care for her. What would Lady Vandeleur say to one alternative, and what would little Joscelind say to the other? That is what it was to have a pertinacious father and to be an accommodating son.
Etymology
From pertinace + -ious, from Old French pertinace, from Latin pertinax, from per- (“very”) + tenax (“tenacious”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.