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RELENTLESS
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Never-ceasing
Example:
the relentless beat of the drums
Synonyms:
persistent; relentless; unrelenting
Classified under:
Similar:
continual (recurring regularly or frequently in a prolonged and closely spaced series)
Derivation:
relentlessness (mercilessness characterized by an unwillingness to relent or let up)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Not to be placated or appeased or moved by entreaty
Example:
the stern demands of parenthood
Synonyms:
grim; inexorable; relentless; stern; unappeasable; unforgiving; unrelenting
Classified under:
Similar:
implacable (incapable of being placated)
Derivation:
relentlessness (mercilessness characterized by an unwillingness to relent or let up)
Context examples:
All the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was possible to conceive.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The relentless beating heat was beginning to confuse me and I had a bad moment there before I realized that so far his suspicions hadn't alighted on Tom.
(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
