Incessant

/ɪnˈsɛsənt/

adjectivemedium📊CommonGeneral
1 meaning3 questions

Definitions

1

Continuing or following without interruption; unceasing.

/ɪnˈsɛsənt/

adjectiveneutralmedium
General

Continuing without pause or interruption.

The dog's incessant barking kept the neighbors awake.

💡 Simply: Think of something that just. Won't. Stop! Like a leaky faucet dripping, dripping, dripping. Or maybe your little brother's constant questions. That's incessant.

👶 For kids: When something keeps happening and happening and happening, and it never stops, that's incessant!

More Examples

2

The politician faced incessant criticism from the media.

3

She found the incessant noise of the city overwhelming.

How It's Used

General

"The incessant rain made it difficult to go outside."

Literature

"The hero was haunted by incessant thoughts of his past."

Synonyms & Antonyms

From Latin *incessantem*, present participle of *incessare* 'not ceasing, continuous', from *in-* 'not' + *cessare* 'to cease'.

The word has been used in English since the 16th century, often in religious contexts, and later, in discussions of natural phenomena and human behavior.

Memory tip

Imagine a train that NEVER stops (incessant train).

Word Origin

LanguageLatin
Original meaning

"not ceasing"

incessant noiseincessant rainincessant demandsincessant chatterincessant questioning

Common misspellings

incessentincessanttincessantely

Usage

40%Spoken
60%Written