Adjacent Words

Inveterate definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

INVET'ERATE, a. [L. inveteratus, invetero; in and vetero, from vetus, old.]
1. Old; long established.
It is an inveterate and received opinion--
2. Deep rooted; firmly established by long continuance; obstinate; used of evils; as an inveterate disease; an inveterate abuse; an inveterate course of sin.
3. Having fixed habits by long continuance; used of persons; as an inveterate sinner.
4. Violent; deep rooted; obstinate; as inveterate enmity or malice.
INVET'ERATE, v.t. [L. invetero, to grow old.]
To fix and settle by long continuance. [Obsolete or little used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: habitual; "a chronic smoker" [syn: chronic, inveterate] adv
1: in a habitual and longstanding manner; "smoking chronically" [syn: chronically, inveterate]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Latin inveteratus, from past participle of inveterare to age (v.t.), from in- + veter-, vetus old — more at wether Date: 14th century 1. firmly established by long persistence <the inveterate tendency to overlook the obvious> 2. confirmed in a habit ; habitual <an inveterate liar> • inveterately adverb Synonyms: inveterate, confirmed, chronic mean firmly established. inveterate applies to a habit, attitude or feeling of such long existence as to be practically ineradicable or unalterable <an inveterate smoker>. confirmed implies a growing stronger and firmer with time so as to resist change or reform <a confirmed bachelor>. chronic suggests something that is persistent or endlessly recurrent and troublesome <a chronic complainer>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 (of a person) confirmed in an (esp. undesirable) habit etc. (an inveterate gambler). 2 a (of a habit etc.) long-established. b (of an activity, esp. an undesirable one) habitual. Derivatives: inveteracy n. inveterately adv. Etymology: ME f. L inveterare inveterat- make old (as IN-(2), vetus veteris old)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Inveterate In*vet"er*ate, v. t. To fix and settle by long continuance. [Obs.] --Bacon.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Inveterate In*vet"er*ate, a. [L. inveteratus, p. p. of inveterare to render old; pref. in- in + vetus, veteris, old. See Veteran.] 1. Old; long-established. [Obs.] It is an inveterate and received opinion. --Bacon. 2. Firmly established by long continuance; obstinate; deep-rooted; of long standing; as, an inveterate disease; an inveterate abuse. Heal the inveterate canker of one wound. --Shak. 3. Having habits fixed by long continuance; confirmed; habitual; as, an inveterate idler or smoker. 4. Malignant; virulent; spiteful. --H. Brooke.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you describe someone as, for example, an inveterate liar or smoker, you mean that they have lied or smoked for a long time and are not likely to stop doing it. ...an inveterate gambler. ADJ: ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Obstinate, besetting, chronic, deep-seated, long established. 2. Habituated, habitual, accustomed, confirmed, hardened.

Moby Thesaurus

abiding, accustomed, acknowledged, addicted, admitted, age-long, aged, ancient, antique, chronic, confirmed, constant, continuing, conventional, customary, deep-dyed, deep-engraven, deep-fixed, deep-grounded, deep-laid, deep-rooted, deep-seated, deep-set, deep-settled, diuturnal, durable, dyed-in-the-wool, embedded, embossed, enduring, engrafted, engraved, entrenched, established, etched, evergreen, fast, firmly established, fixed, folk, graven, habitual, habituated, hallowed, handed down, hardened, hardy, heroic, hoary, immemorial, immutable, implanted, impressed, imprinted, inbred, incorrigible, inculcated, indelibly impressed, indurated, infixed, ingrained, ingrown, innate, instilled, intransient, inwrought, irreversible, lasting, legendary, lifelong, long-established, long-lasting, long-lived, long-standing, long-term, longeval, longevous, macrobiotic, mythological, of long duration, of long standing, of the folk, old, old-line, on a rock, on bedrock, oral, perdurable, perduring, perennial, permanent, perpetual, persistent, persisting, prescriptive, received, recognized, remaining, rooted, sempervirent, set, settled, settled in habit, stabilized, stable, staying, steadfast, sworn, thorough, time-honored, tough, traditional, tried and true, true-blue, understood, unfading, unwritten, usual, venerable, vested, vital, well-established, well-founded, well-grounded, well-set, well-settled, worshipful