EN

Synonyms for pursue

29 synonyms
8 antonyms
2 meanings

verb

Most common

chase seek continue prosecute follow up on act on

Synonyms by meaning

Verb

1. Chase

chase, seek, continue, prosecute, give chase, engage in, engage, conduct, hunt, persist, drive, track, trace, hound, dog

2. Follow up on

follow up on, act on

Other

follow, go after, run after, aspire, practice US, practise UK, cultivate, strive, exercise, follow-up, ensue, chevy

Antonyms

avoid, flee, escape

All antonyms of pursue →

Definitions

v. 1
To follow urgently, originally with intent to capture or harm; to chase.
v. 2
To follow, travel down (a particular way, course of action etc.).
Her rival pursued a quite different course.

Related words

Word family: pursuance pursuer pursual pursuant pursuit

Forms

Past participle: pursued
e.g. pursued → chased, continued, prosecuted, engaged…

Example sentences

continue We have to continue doing this until it gets done.
seek Hide and seek / I count to three / Winter has come
chase Sami tried to chase after Layla and talked to her.
prosecute This is enough for them to prosecute me.
follow Some pupils find it difficult to follow the rules.
strive Do you strive to be the best version of yourself?

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
pursue		rising
continue		steady
seek		steady
chase		rising
prosecute		steady
follow		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: dog¹
4 letters: seek¹, hunt¹
5 letters: drive¹, track¹, chase¹, trace¹, chevy², hound¹, ensue²
6 letters: follow², engage², strive¹, aspire²
7 letters: conduct², persist²
8 letters: continue³, practice², exercise³, practise²
9 letters: prosecute³, cultivate³

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (chevy² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: poursuivre
Italiano: rincorrere
Català: encalçar