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pursue

/pərˈsuː//pəˈsjuː/·verb
to chase or strive after something; to go after a goal
Fig. 1 — I watch someone break into a run with one hand flung out ahead, fingers spread for a light that hovers just past them.
01Definition

To pursue something is to go after it — to chase a person, a goal, or a line of thought with sustained effort. It comes through Old French from Latin prosequi, 'to follow after', and that following is the heart of it: a pursuit is all forward motion, the gap between you and the thing still open. You pursue a career, a degree, a suspect, an interest. Where to achieve is to reach the goal at last, and to abandon is to turn away from it, pursue is the chase still underway.

02In use
  • iShe left a steady job to pursue a career in research, whatever it cost her.
  • iiDetectives pursued every lead until the trail finally went cold.
  • iiiIf you pursue a goal stubbornly enough, the early clumsiness gives way to skill.
03Collocations
  • pursue a career
  • pursue a goal
  • pursue a degree
  • pursue an interest
  • pursue legal action

Family pursuit (noun) · pursuer (noun)

04Relations

=chase, seek, follow, strive for, go after

≠abandon, give up, flee, quit

05Compared
PairThe difference
pursue vs abandonturn your back on the goal → abandon; keep going after it → pursue.
pursue vs achievestill going after the goal → pursue; the goal reached at last → achieve.
pursue vs desertflee the thing in secret → desert; go after it in the open → pursue.
pursue vs give upstop trying → give up; keep going after it → pursue.
pursue vs persistkeep going on the same course despite resistance → persist; chase a goal out ahead → pursue.
06TOEFL & IELTS

A strong academic verb for ambition and inquiry: pursue a career / degree / goal / line of research / legal action. The noun is pursuit (in pursuit of; the pursuit of happiness). Watch the spelling (pur-sue) and the US/UK split in the second syllable. Contrast pursue (still chasing) with achieve (finally reaching) and abandon (giving the chase up).

07Asked
What does 'the pursuit of happiness' actually mean?
The chase, not the catch — pursuit is pursue's noun, and the famous phrase from the American Declaration of Independence promises the right to go after happiness, with no word about arriving. That is the noun's whole character: in pursuit of, hot pursuit, leisure pursuits (things you keep doing, not finish). The scene above makes the grammar visible: the light keeps its lead, and the runner's whole story is the chase itself.
Is it pursue or persue?
Pursue, always — persue is not a variant but a plain misspelling, common because the unstressed first syllable sounds like per-. The family holds the u throughout: pursuit, pursuer, pursued. If it helps, park it beside its pur- neighbours, purpose and purchase. The second syllable is where US and UK part company: per-SOO in America, per-SYOO in Britain.
Is pursuing a goal the same as achieving it?
No — pursue is the chase still open, achieve is the arrival; that line, and the giving-up antonyms beside it, are drawn on the achieve vs pursue page and its neighbours in the 'Compared' list above.
Is pursue more formal than chase?
Considerably — and they split the territory. Chase is physical, urgent and often literal: dogs chase cats; police give chase. Pursue is sustained and dignified: careers, degrees, inquiries, legal action. Where both fit, register decides — police pursue a suspect in the report and chase him in the retelling. Only pursue works for abstractions: nobody chases a PhD without irony.
What does 'pursue legal action' mean?
To move a dispute onto the legal track and keep it there — the phrase covers the whole campaign from first letters to lawsuit, which is exactly why lawyers favour the verb: it promises persistence, not a single act. Its siblings share the muscle: pursue a claim, pursue charges, pursue the matter. Declining is equally formulaic — 'we have decided not to pursue the matter further'.