inveterate
adjective
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The History of Inveterate
Despite how it may seem at first glance, inveterate has nothing to do with lacking a spine. That’s invertebrate, which came into English in the early 19th century from New Latin, the Latin vocabulary used in scientific description and classification. Inveterate, on the other hand, is a true veteran of the English language, with a membership card dating to the 15th century. Like veteran, inveterate ultimately comes from the Latin adjective vetus, which means "old." (In times past, inveterate had among its meanings "old.") The more direct source of inveterate, however, is the Latin adjective inveteratus, with which it shares the meaning "firmly established by long persistence." Today inveterate most often describes someone who so frequently or invariably engages in a particular habit or attitude as to be regularly identified with that habit or attitude, as when political columnist Jamelle Bouie observed "The truth is that our best presidents—or at least our most successful ones—have been inveterate flip-floppers, willing to break from unpopular positions, move with political winds, and adjust to new complications."
Examples of inveterate in a Sentence
Frederick N. Rasmussen, Baltimore Sun, 28 Nov. 2024
Even diplomats of Iran and North Korea, two of America’s most inveterate foes, can reside in New York city as a result of this unique host status of our country.
—Saleem H. Ali, Forbes, 3 Nov. 2024
Second Gentleman Dough Emhoff has established a reputation as a music nerd and, like his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, an inveterate crate digger.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 22 Oct. 2024
Johnson, an alum of BuzzFeed, Independent Journal Review, The Daily Caller, and Blaze Media, is also an inveterate poster and engagement optimizer whose apparent quest for audience has led him deeper down the pro-Trump rabbit hole.
—Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 6 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for inveterate
Cite this Entry
“Inveterate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inveterate. Accessed 1 Mar. 2025.
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inveterate
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inveterate
adjective
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