entrenched

[ en-trencht ]

adjective

1. firmly or solidly established; placed in a position of strength:

   One of the most firmly entrenched ideas of masculinity is that men don't cry.

2. surrounded by trenches dug for defensive purposes:

   Government troops had finally been forced to abandon their entrenched positions, making them vulnerable to ground attack.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of entrench ( def ).

Other Words From

• un·en·trenched adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of entrenched¹

entrench ( def ) + -ed ²( def )

Example Sentences

This difference is despite seven decades of affirmative action, India's caste system - a four-fold hierarchy of the Hindu religion - remains deeply entrenched.

From BBC

When he transferred to USC this past January, he stepped into a locker room that already had an entrenched leader at quarterback in Miller Moss.

From Los Angeles Times

"And partly because it's entrenched and it's something they've always done."

From BBC

All of this is not to say that Black reformers rejected the idea of staging a political revolution when necessary to abolish entrenched systemic evils.

From Salon

This anti-democratic coalition has a deep, entrenched grievance with the modern world and they use politics to express it.

From Salon

Related Words

• rooted