ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Perseveration

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /pəˌsɛvəˈɹeɪʃən/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Perseveration is a noun meaning (psychology) The tendency to continue or repeat an act or activity after the cessation of the original stimulus.

Meaning

(psychology) The tendency to continue or repeat an act or activity after the cessation of the original stimulus.

More Meanings

  1. The act or an instance of persevering; perseverance.
  2. (derogatory) An argument by repetition; a mantra.
  3. (psychology) An uncontrollable repetition of a particular response, such as a word, phrase, or gesture, despite the absence or cessation of a stimulus, usually caused by a brain injury or other organic disorder.

Example Sentences

Being subjected to this mantra once more re-evokes the perseveration we routinely suffer in the moral ambiguity characterising our supposedly post-politics milieu.
Perseveration with demonstrably false arguments. This is illustrated for creationism by the ability to construct an Index to Creationist Claims which describes the plethora of such false arguments, rebutted over and over in the scientific literature but persisted in by creationists.

Word Forms

Synonyms for perseveration

Depending on context, synonyms include perseverance, persistence.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include perseverance, persistence, palinacousis, palilalia, echolalia, pervery.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.