inveterate
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɪnˈvɛtəɹɪt/
ipa: /ɪnˈvetəɹɪt/
rhymes: -ɛtəɹɪt
Forms: form: more inveterate
form: most inveterate
Etymology: The adjective is first attested in 1528, the verb in 1574; borrowed from Latin inveterātus (“of long standing, chronic”), perfect passive participle of inveterō and participial adjective (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from in- (“in, into”) + veterō (“to age”), from vetus, veteris (“old”). Cognate with Italian inveterato, French invétéré.
Senses: examples: text: Near-synonyms: deep-rooted, ingrained, ineradicable, indelible, radicated, chronic, permanent
text: an inveterate disease
text: an inveterate habit
text: a Heaven's radiance of justice, prophetic, clearly of Heaven, discernible behind all these confused worldwide entanglements, of Landlord interests, Manufacturing interests, Tory-Whig interests, and who knows what other interests, expediencies, vested interests, established possessions, inveterate Dilettantisms, Midas-eared Mammonism.
ref: 1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “ch. 3, Manchester Insurrection”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book I (Proem):
text: In Montpelier, where this prison stands, the inveterate prejudice against prisoners has been swept away.
ref: 1911, Morrison I. Swift, “Humanizing the Prisons,”, in The Atlantic:
synonyms: long-standing
hypernyms: everlasting
antonyms: transient
temporary
momentary
fleeting
;
impermanent
shifting
;
acute
;
novel#Adjective
glosses: Firmly established from having been around for a long time; of long standing.
examples: text: Near-synonyms: hardened, chronic, dyed-in-the-wool
text: an inveterate idler;   an inveterate gambler;   an inveterate smoker
text: an inveterate traveller
text: "Say no more," interrupted Henrietta: "the very mention of that inveterate gossip accounts for every thing. Do let me, my dear Mrs. Courtenaye," and she took her hand with a kindness that was irresistible, "let me warn you against allowing your happiness to be the sport of a woman like that;...
ref: 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 100–101:
text: [S]he offered kisses to a stranger so confidingly that the most inveterate bachelor relented.
ref: 1868–1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “chapter 45”, in Little Women: […], (please specify |part=1 or 2), Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC:
text: Like many lonely people, he was an inveterate hoarder, making and surrounding himself with objects, barriers against the demands of human intimacy.
ref: 2017, Olivia Laing, The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone, New York: Picador, →ISBN, page 6:
antonyms: casual#Adjective
sometime#Adjective
occasional#Adjective
dilettante#Adjective
coordinate_terms: established
;
devoted
glosses: Having had a habit (usually a bad habit) for a long time.
raw_tags: of a person
examples: text: A man of mild manners can form no idea of inveterate revenge or cruelty[…]
ref: 1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of morals, London: Oxford University Press, published 1973, § 15:
text: 1765–70, Henry Brooke, The Fool of Quality; or, The History of Henry, Earl of Moreland
This his lordship perused with a countenance, and scrutiny, apparently inveterate.
glosses: Malignant; virulent; spiteful.
Synonyms: word: bred-in-the-bone
word: deep-rooted
word: deep-seated
word: dyed-in-the-wool
word: ingrained
word: inveterate
word: long-standing
word: radicated
Hypernyms: word: established
word: fixed
Hyponyms: word: ineradicable
Derived terms: inveterateness
inveteratist
Related terms: word: inveteracy
word: inveterately
word: innate
word: obstinate