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Marlene007 Posted 19 years ago
Vocabulary

incessant

0 01b00Hello everybody!02br
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00Is it possible to say "He makes incessant remarks about her." I wrote this in my class test and my teacher crossed it out. Can you tell me why I cannot use this word in this context? Could I also say "He makes continual nasty remarks about her."?02br
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Top answer

05100):02br 02br 00 --------02br 01b 00in·ces·sant02b 02br 02br 00 Function: 01i 00adjective02i 02br 00 Etymology: Middle English 01i 00incessaunt, 02i 00from Late Latin 01i 00incessant-, incessans, 02i 00from Latin 01i 00in- 02i 01sup 00102sup 00in- + 01i 00cessant-, cessans, 02i 00present participle of 01i 00cessare 02i 00to delay -- more at 01a 00CEASE02a 02br 02br 01b 00102b 00 01b 00:02b 00 continuing or following without interruption 01b 00: 01a 00UNCEASING02a 02b 00<01i 00incessant02i 00 rains> <this 01i 00incessant02i 00 chatter>02br 01b 00202b 00 01i 00obsolete02i 00 01b 00: 01a 00EVERLASTING02a 02b 02br 01b 00synonym02b 00 see 01a 00CONTINUAL02a 02br 02br 05000 02br 00 ----------02br 02br 00It's rare, and a bit precious, but correct, IMO, and nice in a piece of fiction, for some variation052024011id112id1

— Marius Hancu

  • 05100):02br 02br 00 --------02br 01b 00in·ces·sant02b 02br 02br 00 Function: 01i 00adjective02i 02br 00 Etymology: Middle English 01i 00incessaunt, 02i 00from Late Latin 01i 00incessant-, incessans, 02i 00from Latin 01i 00in- 02i 01sup 00102sup 00in- + 01i 00cessant-, cessans, 02i 00present participle of 01i 00cessare 02i 00to delay -- more at 01a 00CEASE02a 02br 02br 01b 00102b 00 01b 00:02b 00 continuing or following without interruption 01b 00: 01a 00UNCEASING02a 02b 00<01i 00incessant02i 00 rains> <this 01i 00incessant02i 00 chatter>02br 01b 00202b 00 01i 00obsolete02i 00 01b 00: 01a 00EVERLASTING02a 02b 02br 01b 00synonym02b 00 see 01a 00CONTINUAL02a 02br 02br 05000 02br 00 ----------02br 02br 00It's rare, and a bit precious, but correct, IMO, and nice in a piece of fiction, for some variation052024011id112id1
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4 Answers
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0This is identical to the French word, perhaps a French-ism/gallicism for some (your teacher?05100):02br
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00 --------02br
01b00in·ces·sant02b02br
02br
00 Function: 01i00adjective02i02br
00 Etymology: Middle English 01i00incessaunt, 02i00from Late Latin 01i
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0It's worth looking at how continuous, continual, and constant work too:02br
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00continual, continuous, 01i00or02i00 constant02br
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00Something is 01b00continual02b00 if it happens repeatedly: 01i00Our holiday was ruined by the continual rain02i00 (it rained often but not all the ti
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0That's a good link from GG05102br
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00 You may also want to see the synonyms here: 02br
0500230hrefhttp://www.m-w.com/dictionary/continual11id1
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01. John makes incessant remarks about her.02br
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00It does sound as if (in the teacher's opinion) "incessant" implies "never-ending". Clearly, in this sense, it would only be possible for John to make 01i00one02i00 incessant remark. Perhaps the teacher would have preferred:02br
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002. John incessantly makes remarks about her.
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