Past tense of persecute
regular verb
The past tense of persecute is persecuted. The past participle is also persecuted.
Forms of persecute
| Base form (V1) | persecute /ˈpɝsəkjut/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | persecuted /ˈpɝsəˌkjutɪd/ |
| Past participle (V3) | persecuted /ˈpɝsəˌkjutɪd/ |
| Present participle | persecuting |
| Third person singular | persecutes |
Persecuted in a sentence
- One of the village's most notable sons was Thomas Grantham, a Baptist church leader born in 1634, who was persecuted and imprisoned in the struggle for nonconformist beliefs during the reign of Charles II.1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 214, about Halton Holegate
- In medieval Europe, Jews were often linked to usury and therefore persecuted by authorities.From the entry usury
- Lined up solidly with the Pimpernels and with the persecuted.From the entry pimpernel
- That old liar pulled a Galileo gambit and made sure everyone would hate him so he could claim he was just a persecuted free thinker.From the entry Galileo gambit
- For Super Straights to do just that, while claiming that they're persecuted is the ultimate irony.2021 March 15, Michelle Santiago Cortés, “The Super Straights Are Definitely Not Okay”, in Refinery29, archived from the original on 17…. From the entry super straight
Meaning of persecute
- verb To pursue in a manner to do harm or cruelty to; especially, because of the victim's race, sexual identity, or adherence to a particular belief.
- verb To harass with importunity; to pursue with persistent solicitations; to annoy.
- verb To kill many of one species of animal, with the intent of removing them from human habitats.
Questions about the past tense of persecute
- What is the past tense of persecute?
- The past tense of persecute is persecuted.
- What is the past participle of persecute?
- The past participle of persecute is persecuted.
- Is persecute a regular or irregular verb?
- Persecute is a regular verb: its past tense adds -d.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: persecute (page history and authors) and the entries of its forms. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws left out forms marked obsolete, archaic, rare or dialectal and added the examples. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Past tense of persecute.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/persecute. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.