Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To be firm in a demand or course; refuse to yield: insisted on giving me a second helping.
- v. To assert or demand (something) vehemently and persistently: We insist that you accept these gifts.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To stand or rest; find support: with on or upon.
- To rest, dwell, or dilate earnestly or repeatedly; urge: with on or upon: as, I must insist upon your coming.
- To assert or argue emphatically; express a desire or a belief with urgency or persistence.
- To be urgent in action; proceed persistently; persevere.
Wiktionary
- v. To hold up a claim emphatically.
- v. To demand continually that something happen or be done.
- v. obsolete To stand on; to rest upon; to lean upon. Used especially as a technical term in geometry.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. rare To stand or rest; to find support; -- with
in ,on , orupon . - v. To take a stand and refuse to give way; to hold to something firmly or determinedly; to be persistent, urgent, or pressing; to persist in demanding; -- followed by
on ,upon , orthat
WordNet 3.0
- v. be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge
- v. beg persistently and urgently
- v. assert to be true
Etymologies
- Latin īnsistere, to persist : in-, on; see in-2 + sistere, to stand; see stā- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“I think I know more about that than you do,' replied Joel, with an air which would have done credit to a _diplomat_, 'and, I assure you, Ellen will _not_ be left penniless; and if you will insist on her going with you for a short time -- mind, I say _insist_ -- I promise before long to make certain disclosures which will satisfy you as to my assertion.”
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 2, No. 2, August, 1862 Devoted to Literature and National Policy
“Someone up-thread noted that you seem to be exercised about the fact that we have a constitutional republic, which you insist is indistinguishable from a democracy.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Taking the Washington Post to School
“Both the United States and Britain insist that, to keep the country from imploding, it is essential that the Balkan nation remain under the political authority of an internationally appointed "High Representative," who governs the nation's affairs.”
“Through it all he would insist — insist is a verb I find I must work hard in this context — that all he needed was to be left alone.”
“The Democratic National Committee raised $16 million in September alone, a startlingly strong month of fundraising that party operatives insist is a sign of momentum for their side with roughly one month remaining before the November midterms.”
The Washington Post: The Fix: DNC rakes in $16 million in September
“Bordered by the Anacostia River (which many insist is rightfully named the Eastern Branch), Pennsylvania Avenue, 25th Street, Naylor Road and Good Hope Road, Fairlawn is a mix of traditional D.C. rowhouses, detached single-family homes and apartment buildings.”
The Washington Post: Optimism is alive in Southeast D.C. neighborhood of Fairlawn
“Of course it was a stroke of pure genius to insist from the outset that any member of the cooperative had to consign to the Produttori one hundred percent of his or her Barbaresco production - either you are with us or you are not - was their very realistic approach right from the start in 1958.”
Natural wines, premox, chenin blanc, 07 Port and Rhone – John Gilman | Dr Vino's wine blog
“Will Florida and Michigan again insist on breaking the rules and still being heard?”
Full Michigan delegation with half-vote to be seated by Dems
“Given that, and the debacle in Iraq, massive deficits in a time of prosperity (which they insist is not a problem at all), exactly how am I supposed to think these are smart people with good decision-making skills?”
“In your version of ID, which you insist is not scientific and should not be taught in schools, where is the explanatory power?”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘insist’.
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hunting
crudely, unequivocal, obsolete, obscure, overtly, misdeed, shack, inherent, outcry, hefty, composed, poised and 318 more...
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I am : talking
"These are talking words," I announce. "You mean verbs that can be used for dialogue?" you ask. "That's right!" I agree.
say, speak, ask, declare, query, shout, yell, scream, shriek, squeal, squeak, screech and 81 more...
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sistrurus
pygmy rattlers (do you feel shaken?)
resistor, transistor, sister, assist, Pisistratus, unsisting, persist, consist, insist, insistence, discursist, irresistible and 45 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
contemplate, container, consumer, consultant, consensus, conscious, conscience, connection, confusion, confront, conflict, confident and 4334 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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Words of Standing
steed, stool, estancia, stage, stance, staunch, stanch, stanchion, stanza, stative, stator, stay and 180 more...
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South Street Reading
Hip, Hippie, offbeat, to boot, commerce, culinary, plummet, community, insist, perennial, contender, labyrinth and 6 more...
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aubrey's Words
polymath, opsimath, taciturn, fuck, darling, ether, december, theory, engender, innoculate, periphery, cartography and 10 more...
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TT2 Lesson 20
acknowledge, act, adult, affection, age, agreement, authority, awesome, bogus, bother, common, commonplace and 58 more...
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Weekly list(17-22/08/2010)
exhausting, to encounter, encounter, insistance, aware of, aware, insist, ensure, desire, procure, pinnacle, courteous and 14 more...
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a manner of speaking
Generally, I feel that "they said" is the best way to tag speech in reporting or fiction, but sometimes you want a verb that expresses something about the way a thing is said or shows the attitude ...
mutter, mumble, pronounce, state, whisper, murmur, suggest, ask, inquire, hint, pout, surmise and 50 more...
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The Karamazov Bros blab
Dostoevsky's alternatives for 'said' and spruce-ilious adverbs
from the Pevear/Volokhonsky translationdrawl, babble, ask, added, remark, inform, exclaim, call, cry, inquire, shout, drone and 56 more...
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my words
proterotype, charisma, devotion, anxious, concession, conceal, optimism, mandatory, insist, aphrodisiac
Tweets
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