dogged

1. 1
   adjective

   Stubbornly persistent in effort, refusing to give up despite difficulty or opposition.

   Like a hound on a scent that refuses to be shaken off the trail.

   Their dogged determination kept the rescue operation going through the night.

   Critics admired how dogged she remained despite years of repeated failures.

   Similardetermined, persistent, tenacious, steadfast, committed

   Oppositehalfhearted, irresolute, wavering

   Note

   Praise with a stubborn edge: the doglike quality behind it is tenacity, the refusal to let go. It most often sits before nouns of effort, as in dogged determination, dogged perseverance, and the dogged obstinacy of Jack London's "To the Man on Trail" (1900). It suits effort sustained over a long stretch, like the nine-year courtship that Chris Wallace credits to Truman's dogged perseverance.

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of dog.

   Injuries dogged the athlete throughout her entire career.

   He had been dogged by rumors for months before the truth finally emerged.

   Note

   One spelling covers both the past tense and the past participle: proctors dogged your steps, and trains have been dogged by poor reliability. In the passive, the subject is usually the one who suffers, and the by-phrase names a persistent trouble, such as injuries, rumors or faults. The same spelling belongs to the "stubborn" adjective, a separate Middle English formation from dog + -ed that describes doglike character rather than coming from the verb.

3. 3
   adverbdated

   To a high degree; very.

   He was dogged sure he'd left the keys right on the table.

   The old man claimed the winter had been dogged cold that year.

   Similarvery, mighty, awfully, darned

   Note

   An old slang intensifier that sits directly before an adjective, the way very does. In Ethel Penman Hope's Dr. Paul (1918), a tired walker complains that one gets "so dogged hungry." It sounds dated now, so it belongs in period dialogue or deliberately old-fashioned speech. Unlike the "stubborn" adjective, it has no comparative or superlative.

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