perseverate

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 5, 2026 is:

perseverate • \per-SEV-uh-rayt\  • verb

To perseverate is to intently focus one's attention on a thought or thoughts. Perseverate can also mean "to recur or repeat continually."

// They teach that there is no use in perseverating about past regrets.

// Nervous thoughts perseverated in the back of her mind for weeks leading up to the event, but it was a complete success.

See the entry >

Examples:

"Why do we remember the close losses more than the wins? ... We perseverate on Milwaukee's 24-point comeback with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter but forget the Wolves trailed by 16 with less than five minutes to play before beating Houston earlier this year." — Michael Rand, The Minnesota Star Tribune, 14 Apr. 2025

Did you know?

Looking at perseverate and perseveration, you may guess that the latter was formed by adding a suffix to the former, but that is not the case. Perseveration is actually the older term by a few years. In the early 1900s, psychologists adopted perseveration from German for the act of repeating a behavior over and over again—for instance, continually repeating the same syllable or word might be called "verbal perseveration." Shortly afterward, those scientists wanted a verb for such acts of repetition, so they changed the -ation of perseveration to -ate and perseverate was born. Perseverate continued to evolve and persevere in the English language, which led to its broader meanings, "to recur or repeat continually" and "to fixate."