inveterate.

Long-established and deeply habitual, especially of a person’s practice or tendency.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• an inveterate skeptic
• an inveterate habit

On the page

An inveterate skeptic, she checked even the claims she wanted to believe.

His inveterate habit of deflection survived every attempt at reconciliation.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary. Forms: Comparative more inveterate; superlative most inveterate where gradation is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.