Meanings
verbpursue (third-person singular simple present pursues, present participle pursuing, simple past and past participle pursued)
present singular third person pursues · participle present pursuing · participle past pursued · past pursued
- ambitransitiveTo follow urgently, originally with intent to capture or harm; to chase.First known use 14th c.
pursue one's dreams
2 more examples
The wicked flee when no man purſueth: but the righteous are bolde as a lyon.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 28:1He now feared for his life, and believed US intelligence agents would pursue him.
15 September 2009, Martin Chulov, “Iraqi shoe-thrower claims he suffered torture in jail”, in The Guardian - transitiveTo follow, travel down (a particular way, course of action etc.).First known use late 14th c.
Her rival pursued a quite different course.
- transitiveTo aim for, go after (a specified objective, situation etc.).First known use late 14th c.
He even stands to gain in world terms: his noisy critics strengthen his projected image of a man determined to pursue peace with Palestinians.
1 December 2009, Benjamin Pogrund, “Freeze won't hurt Netanyahu”, in The Guardian - transitiveTo participate in (an activity, business etc.); to practise, follow (a profession).First known use 15th c.
The Kedarites are depicted as herders of sheep and goats who pursued a seminomadic existence and lived scattered over a wide area of the desert region east of the land of Israel.
2001, David L. Lieber, Jules Harlow, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, page 141 - transitiveTo urge (someone or something) to act in a particular way.
The mayor promised to pursue the city to be an Olympic sports venue.
- intransitiveTo act as a legal prosecutor.
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinprōsequor
- Anglo-Normanpursure
- Middle Englishpursuen
- Englishpursue
From Middle English pursuen, from Anglo-Norman pursure, poursuire etc., from Latin prōsequor (though influenced by persequor). Doublet of prosecute.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek διώκω
- διώκω (diṓkō)to follow urgently
Arabic لَاحَقَ, اِتَّبَعَ
- لَاحَقَ (lāḥaqa)to follow urgently
- اِتَّبَعَ (ittabaʕa)to travel down a particular way or course of action
Bulgarian пресле́двам, следвам
- пресле́двам (preslédvam)to follow urgently
- следвам (sledvam)to travel down a particular way or course of action
- занимавам се (zanimavam se)to participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
Catalan perseguir
- perseguirto follow urgently
Chinese Mandarin 追求
- 追求 (zhuīqiú)to follow urgently
Czech pronásledovat
- pronásledovatto follow urgently
Danish forfølge
- forfølgeto follow urgently
Dutch achtervolgen, volgen
- achtervolgento follow urgently
- volgento travel down a particular way or course of action
- najagento aim for
- beoefenento participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
Esperanto persekuti
- persekutito follow urgently
Finnish ajaa takaa, seurata
- ajaa takaato follow urgently
- seuratato follow urgently
- ahdistaato follow urgently
- seuratato travel down a particular way or course of action
- pyrkiäto aim for
- harjoittaato participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
French poursuivre, rechercher
- poursuivreto follow urgently
- rechercherto aim for
German verfolgen, folgen
- verfolgento follow urgently
- folgento travel down a particular way or course of action
- beschreitento travel down a particular way or course of action
- nachjagento aim for
- nachgehento participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
- betreiben (Forschung)to participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
- weiterverfolgento participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
- sich befassen mitto participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
- (Beschwerde) einreichento participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
- (Beruf) ausübento participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
Hebrew רדף
- רדף (radaf)to follow urgently
Hungarian üldöz, űz
- üldözto follow urgently
- űzto follow urgently
- hajszolto follow urgently
- folytatto participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
- gyakorolto participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
- űzto participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
Indonesian mengejar, mengejar
- mengejarto follow urgently
- mengejarto aim for
- mengikutito participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
Italian perseguire, perseguitare
- perseguireto follow urgently
- perseguitareto aim for
- tormentareto aim for
- inseguireto aim for
- cercareto aim for
- praticareto participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
- attendereto participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
Japanese 追跡する
- 追跡する (tsuiseki suru)to follow urgently
Korean 뒤쫓다, 추구하다
- 뒤쫓다 (dwijjotda)to follow urgently
- 추구하다 (chuguhada)to aim for
Latin consector, insector
- consectorto follow urgently
- insectorto follow urgently
- sectorto follow urgently
- persequorto follow urgently
- prōsequorto follow urgently
- venorto follow urgently
- apīscorto aim for
Māori koromaki
- koromakito aim for
Persian دنبال کردن, دنبال کردن
- دنبال کردن (donbâl kardan)to follow urgently
- دنبال کردن (donbâl kardan)to travel down a particular way or course of action
- به دنبال چیزی بودنto aim for
- دنبال کردن (donbâl kardan)to participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
Polish ścigać
- ścigaćto follow urgently
Portuguese perseguir, procurar
- perseguirto follow urgently
- procurarto aim for
- perseguirto aim for
Romanian urmări
- urmărito follow urgently
Russian пресле́довать, гна́ться
- пресле́довать (preslédovatʹ)to follow urgently
- гна́ться (gnátʹsja)to follow urgently
- пресле́довать (preslédovatʹ)to travel down a particular way or course of action
- сле́довать (slédovatʹ)to travel down a particular way or course of action
- занима́ться (zanimátʹsja)to participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
Slovak prenasledovať
- prenasledovaťto follow urgently
Spanish perseguir, seguir
- perseguirto follow urgently
- seguirto travel down a particular way or course of action
- proseguirto travel down a particular way or course of action
- perseguirto aim for
- apuntar ato aim for
- luchar porto aim for
- buscarto aim for
- pretenderto aim for
- procurarto aim for
- cursarto participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
Swedish förfölja, följa
- förföljato follow urgently
- följato travel down a particular way or course of action
Turkish kovalamak, hedeflemek
- kovalamakto follow urgently
- hedeflemekto aim for
- başlamakto participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
Ukrainian переслі́дувати, займа́тися
- переслі́дувати (pereslíduvaty)to follow urgently
- займа́тися (zajmátysja)to participate in, practise (an activity, profession)
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with pursue
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
pursue. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pursue
MLA
“pursue.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pursue. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pursue,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pursue.
Source: pursue on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.