noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The act of pursuing. countable, uncountable

   "Unremitting pursuit of wealth doesn't bring happiness, particularly if successful."

2. 2
   the act of pursuing in an effort to overtake or capture wordnet
3. 3
   A hobby or recreational activity, done regularly. countable, uncountable
4. 4
   a diversion that occupies one's time and thoughts (usually pleasantly) wordnet
5. 5
   A discipline in track cycling where two opposing teams start on opposite sides of the track and try to catch their opponents. countable, uncountable

Show 3 more definitions

6. 6
   an auxiliary activity wordnet
7. 7
   prosecution countable, obsolete, uncountable

   "That pursuit for tithes ought, and of ancient time did pertain to the spiritual court."

8. 8
   a search for an alternative that meets cognitive criteria wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

avocationavocationhobbypastimepastimepursual

Example

More examples

"We are all in daily pursuit of happiness."

Etymology

From Middle English pursuyte, from Old French poursuite, from the verb porsuir (“to pursue”).

Related phrases

curve of pursuitfoot pursuitfresh pursuitgive pursuithot pursuitimmediate pursuitin pursuitindividual pursuitpursuit curvepursuit planeteam pursuittrack cycling

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.