pursue
/pɚˈsu/verb
pursue is spelled P-U-R-S-U-E. The wrong spelling people search most is persue: about 1,900 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 3 in 10 of all searches for the word. Pursue is a verb meaning “To follow urgently, originally with intent to capture or harm; to chase”.
How many letters and syllables are in pursue?
| Letters | 6: P-U-R-S-U-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 18 times per million words; the 4,589th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, persue, about 1,900 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell pursue?
Pursue is spelled P-U-R-S-U-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 3 in 10 of the searches for pursue in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is pursue?
Pursue appears 18 times per million words in written English, the 4,589th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce pursue?
- UK /pəˈsjuː/
- UK /pəˈʃuː/
- US /pɚˈsu/
Pursue has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-pursue.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-pursue.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with pursue?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as pursue from its last stressed vowel (/u/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of pursue
- pursues present, singular, he/she/it
- pursuing participle, present
- pursued participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pursue mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To follow urgently, originally with intent to capture or harm; to chase.
pursue one's dreams
- 2
To follow, travel down (a particular way, course of action etc.).
Her rival pursued a quite different course.
- 3
To aim for, go after (a specified objective, situation etc.).
- 4
To participate in (an activity, business etc.); to practise, follow (a profession).
- 5
To urge (someone or something) to act in a particular way.
The mayor promised to pursue the city to be an Olympic sports venue.
- 6
To act as a legal prosecutor.
- 7
archaicTo continue; to carry on.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pursue in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | poursuivre , rechercher |
| German | verfolgen , nachjagen , folgen, beschreiten , nachgehen, betreiben (Forschung) |
| Portuguese | perseguir , procurar |
| Spanish | perseguir , apuntar a, luchar por , seguir, proseguir |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does pursue come from?
From Middle English pursuen, from Anglo-Norman pursure, poursuire etc., from Latin prōsequor (though influenced by persequor). Doublet of prosecute.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).