insist en · VERB
Pronunciation
Etymology
Partly from Middle French insister, from Latin īnsistere; and partly from a back-formation from insistence. Compare typologically from the same PIE root Bulgarian настоявам (nastojavam), Russian наста́ивать (nastáivatʹ).
Meanings
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(qualifier:with on or upon, with (that + indicative) or intransitive) To hold up a claim emphatically.
But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud,[…]. We began to tell her about Mohair and the cotillon, and of our point of observation from the Florentine galleried porch, and she insisted she would join us there.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:I insist that my secretary dresses nicely.
The defendant insisted on his innocence.
Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.
2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:
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(qualifier:with on or upon, sometimes, with (that + subjunctive) or intransitive) To demand continually that something happen or be done; to reiterate a demand despite requests to abandon it.
I know I promised to pay you back tomorrow, but it's not very convenient for me. Can we put it off to Friday? —I'm afraid I have to insist on what we agreed.
And it had been a close-run thing for many of the nearest - perhaps too close. Councillor Renee Spector, a senior member of Birmingham City Council planning committee, told the local press that the accident might force "a rethink" about the way it considered future applications. "There is a case for a buffer zone, but the problem is that land is at such a premium it is difficult to insist on a large distance between houses and railway lines," she said.
2026 March 18, Greg Morse, “1996 crash driving freight reforms”, in RAIL, number 1057, page 51:The Prime Minister insisted on his Chancellor's resignation.
I insist that my secretary dress nicely.
The Prime Minister insisted that his Chancellor resign.
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(obsolete) To stand (on); to rest (upon); to lean (upon).
Angles likewise which insist on the Diameter, are all Right Angles.
1709, Venturus Mandey, Synopsis Mathematica Universalis:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| insisting | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| insisted | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| insisted | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| insists | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Translations (78)
sh inzistirati (to hold up a claim emphatically) · km ទទូច (to demand that something be done) · he הִתְעַקֵּשׁ (to demand that something be done) · mi whakanonoi (to demand that something be done) · el επιμένω (to hold up a claim emphatically) · de insistieren (to hold up a claim emphatically) · mk насто́јува (to demand that something be done) · pt insistir (to hold up a claim emphatically) · ru наста́ивать (to hold up a claim emphatically) · sh ustrajati (to hold up a claim emphatically) · gl teimar (to hold up a claim emphatically) · fi vaatia (to demand that something be done) · fi vaatia (to hold up a claim emphatically) · cmn 堅持 /坚持 (to hold up a claim emphatically) · hy պնդել (to demand that something be done) · de beharren (to hold up a claim emphatically) · fi vakuuttaa (to hold up a claim emphatically) · sh ustrajati (to demand that something be done) · nl blijven bij (to hold up a claim emphatically) · fa پافشاری کردن (to hold up a claim emphatically) · ru настоя́ть (to hold up a claim emphatically) · cs trvat na (to hold up a claim emphatically) · uk наполягти́ (to hold up a claim emphatically) · fa اصرار کردن (to hold up a claim emphatically) · sh ustrajavati (to demand that something be done) · fr insister (to hold up a claim emphatically) · tr üstelemek (to hold up a claim emphatically) · nl aandringen (to hold up a claim emphatically) · es empeñarse (to hold up a claim emphatically) · sh insistirati (to hold up a claim emphatically) · gl insistir (to hold up a claim emphatically) · tr yinelemek (to hold up a claim emphatically) · mi whakanonoi (to hold up a claim emphatically) · sk trvať (na) (to hold up a claim emphatically) · ca insistir (to hold up a claim emphatically) · gl insistir (to demand that something be done) · he הִקְפִּיד (to demand that something be done) · uk наполяга́ти (to demand that something be done) · ca insistir (to demand that something be done) · gl porfiar (to hold up a claim emphatically) · es insistir (to demand that something be done) · it insistere (to hold up a claim emphatically) · it insistere (to demand that something be done) · ar أَلَحَّ (to demand that something be done) · mk насто́јува (to hold up a claim emphatically) · uk наполягти́ (to demand that something be done) · tr ısrar etmek (to hold up a claim emphatically) · mi ungaunga (to demand that something be done) · hy պնդել (to hold up a claim emphatically) · bg настоявам (to hold up a claim emphatically) · te పట్టుబట్టు (to hold up a claim emphatically) · da insistere (to hold up a claim emphatically) · hu kitart (to hold up a claim emphatically) · pl nalegać (to demand that something be done) · ar أَصَرَّ (to hold up a claim emphatically) · ja 主張する (to hold up a claim emphatically) · nl volhouden (to hold up a claim emphatically) · uk наполяга́ти (to hold up a claim emphatically) · la efflāgitō (to hold up a claim emphatically) · es insistir (to hold up a claim emphatically) · es instar (to demand that something be done) · la teneō (to hold up a claim emphatically) · da insistere (to demand that something be done) · sq këmbëngul (to hold up a claim emphatically) · gl porfiar (to demand that something be done) · id bersikeras (to hold up a claim emphatically) · de auf etwas bestehen (to hold up a claim emphatically) · ro insista (to hold up a claim emphatically) · hu ragaszkodik (to hold up a claim emphatically) · he דָּרַשׁ (to demand that something be done) · eo insisti (to hold up a claim emphatically) · gl teimar (to demand that something be done) · nl met klem beweren (to hold up a claim emphatically) · fi inttää (to hold up a claim emphatically) · nl erop staan (to hold up a claim emphatically) · ko 주장하다 (to hold up a claim emphatically) · sh ustrajavati (to hold up a claim emphatically) · tr bastırmak (to hold up a claim emphatically)