Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Stubbornly persevering; tenacious.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Very: as, a dogged mean trick.
  • Having the meaner qualities of a dog; malicious; mean; contemptible; surly.
  • Having the pertinacity of a dog; silently obstinate; unyielding.
  • Synonyms Stubborn, mulish, inflexible, headstrong.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Obs. or R. Sullen; morose.
  • adjective Sullenly obstinate; obstinately determined or persistent

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Simple past tense and past participle of dog.
  • adjective Stubbornly persevering, steadfast.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective stubbornly unyielding

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the verb to dog.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, characteristics similar to that of a dog.

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Examples

  • I've hounded every pet store and veterinary supply, I've dogged from the mercado de abastos to every single market in town, and there are none.

    Restrictions on food? 2003

  • The IQ-testing movement had been dogged from the very beginning by the charge that people high in IQ were prone to be intelligent misfits, scrawny, nearsighted, and weird; several commentators now revived this line of argument, saying that the test would be selecting and rewarding people like America's two leading domestic villains of the day, the brainy traitors Klaus Fuchs and Alger Hiss.

    The Great Sorting 1995

  • Page 50 visit to the Carrol, the first time; he it was who followed me down to the cars, over to Baltimore, and when I went out there; and in short, dogged my steps everywhere, and was now taking me to prison!

    The Old Capitol and its inmates, by who enjoyed the hospitalities of the government for a "season 1867

  • Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) isn't on the intelligence committee, but he's known as a dogged manager of the health of government agencies -- the man may just fire off miffed letters to inspectors general in his sleep.

    Confirmations 2009

  • Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) isn't on the intelligence committee, but he's known as a dogged manager of the health of government agencies -- the man may just fire off miffed letters to inspectors general in his sleep.

    Leon Panetta 2009

  • Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) isn't on the intelligence committee, but he's known as a dogged manager of the health of government agencies -- the man may just fire off miffed letters to inspectors general in his sleep.

    Another Senator Skeptical on Panetta 2009

  • Muñoz was known as a dogged advocate while she was VP of Policy at the National Council of La Raza, and her experience of the five-year immigration debate that ended with no change in 2007 is some of the most moving stuff in my book, The Accidental American.

    Rinku Sen: Stimulus Package: Immigrants! 2009

  • Curiously, according to ABC's Web site, Edwards did not give the interview to chief investigative correspondent Ross, known as a dogged if not fierce interviewer.

    The Story Is Out 2008

  • Murkowski is dodged by -- dogged, that is, by charges of nepotism.

    CNN Transcript Nov 2, 2004 2004

  • In the Corinthian night, under the stars and fading moon, the panther who had once been a man ran, moving in a manner that might be called dogged had he been canine instead of feline.

    Conan the Fearless Perry, Steve 1986

Comments

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  • unrelenting; followed

    November 23, 2007

  • contradictory to showing tenacity, means also to act lazily, fail to try one's hardest (informally in north american)

    January 13, 2017

  • witch's comment addresses the past tense of the verb to dog, which see. Among the many definitions there is:

    idiom dog it Slang To fail to expend the effort needed to do or accomplish something.

    January 13, 2017