incessantly

I1N1C3E1S1S1A1N1T1L1Y4
US/ɪnˈsɛs.ənt.li/

adverb

In a manner without pause or stop, especially to the point of annoyance; not ceasing.

“He jabbered incessantly and annoyed everyone.”

Less commonScrabble 16

Meanings

adverbincessantly (not comparable)
  1. not comparableIn a manner without pause or stop, especially to the point of annoyance; not ceasing.

    He jabbered incessantly and annoyed everyone.

    4 more examples

    We see the eye subdued, the practised smile, / The word well weighed before it pass the lip, / And know not of the misery within: / Yet there it works incessantly, and fears / The time to come; for time is terrible, / Avenging, and betraying.

    1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Confession”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 136

    There were the tawny rocks, like lions couchant, defying the ocean, whose waves incessantly dashed against and scoured them with vast quantities of gravel.

    1865, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “The Shipwreck”, in [Sophia Thoreau; William Ellery Channing], editors, Cape Cod, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 14

    "You are old, Father William," the young man said, / "And your hair has become very white; / And yet you incessantly stand on your head— / Do you think, at your age, it is right?"

    1865 November (indicated as 1866), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “Advice from a Caterpillar”, in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, [poem “You Are Old, Father William”], page 63

    But just there a small hairy terrier exploded out at the gate, like a floor-mop impelled by some sort of internal combustion, which sent him off into a frenzy of yapping, incessantly jerked backwards by the explosive force of his own detonations.

    1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 59

    Synonyms: ceaselessly, continuously, unremittingly, ceaselessly, consecutively, constantly, continently, continually

  2. not comparableobsoleteImmediately.

Synonyms & antonyms

More synonyms by meaning

adverbwith unflagging resolve

adverbinvariably

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Translations

Basque etengabe, etenik gabe
  • etengabein a manner without pause or stop
  • etenik gabein a manner without pause or stop
Catalan incessantment
  • incessantmentin a manner without pause or stop
Chinese Mandarin 不斷 /不断, 不止
  • 不斷 /不断 (bùduàn)in a manner without pause or stop
  • 不止 (bùzhǐ)in a manner without pause or stop
  • 不迭 (bùdié)in a manner without pause or stop
Dutch onophoudelijk, aanhoudend
  • onophoudelijkin a manner without pause or stop
  • aanhoudendin a manner without pause or stop
  • onophoudendin a manner without pause or stop
Esperanto senĉese
  • senĉesein a manner without pause or stop
Finnish herkeämättä, lakkaamatta
  • herkeämättäin a manner without pause or stop
  • lakkaamattain a manner without pause or stop
  • tauottain a manner without pause or stop
  • jatkuvastiin a manner without pause or stop
French incessamment, sans cesse
  • incessammentin a manner without pause or stop
  • sans cessein a manner without pause or stop
  • d’arrache-piedin a manner without pause or stop
German ständig, immerzu
  • ständigin a manner without pause or stop
  • immerzuin a manner without pause or stop
  • fortwährendin a manner without pause or stop
  • unaufhörlichin a manner without pause or stop
  • in einem fortin a manner without pause or stop
Hindi निरंतर
  • निरंतर (nirantar)in a manner without pause or stop
Hungarian állandóan, szüntelenül
  • állandóanin a manner without pause or stop
  • szüntelenülin a manner without pause or stop
Italian incessantemente
  • incessantementein a manner without pause or stop
Japanese 引っ切り無し
  • 引っ切り無し (hikkirinashi)in a manner without pause or stop
Norwegian ustanselig
  • ustanseligin a manner without pause or stop
Polish bezustannie
  • bezustanniein a manner without pause or stop
Portuguese incessantemente
  • incessantementein a manner without pause or stop
Romanian fără oprire, neîncetat
  • fără oprirein a manner without pause or stop
  • neîncetatin a manner without pause or stop
Russian беспреста́нно, непреры́вно
  • беспреста́нно (besprestánno)in a manner without pause or stop
  • непреры́вно (neprerývno)in a manner without pause or stop
  • постоя́нно (postojánno)in a manner without pause or stop
  • бесконе́чно (beskonéčno)in a manner without pause or stop
Scottish Gaelic daonnan, an còmhnaidh
  • daonnanin a manner without pause or stop
  • an còmhnaidhin a manner without pause or stop
  • gu sìorin a manner without pause or stop
Slovak neprestajne
  • neprestajnein a manner without pause or stop
Spanish incesantemente, sin cesar
  • incesantementein a manner without pause or stop
  • sin cesarin a manner without pause or stop
Vietnamese hoài
  • hoàiin a manner without pause or stop
Cite this entry
APA

incessantly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incessantly

MLA

“incessantly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incessantly. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “incessantly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incessantly.

Source: incessantly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.