sedulous
adjective
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Dedicate Yourself to Learning the History of Sedulous
No fooling—the word sedulous ultimately comes from Latin se dolus, which literally means "without guile." Those two words were eventually melded into one, sedulo, meaning "sincerely" or "diligently," and from that root developed Latin sedulus and English sedulous. Don't let the sed- beginning mislead you; sedulous is not related to words such as sedentary or sedate (those derive from the Latin verb sedēre, meaning "to sit"). Sedulous people are not the sedate or sedentary sort. They're the hardworking types Scottish author Samuel Smiles must have had in mind when he wrote in his 1859 book Self-Help, "Sedulous attention and painstaking industry always mark the true worker."
Synonyms
- active
- assiduous
- bustling
- busy
- diligent
- employed
- engaged
- hopping
- industrious
- laborious
- occupied
- tied-up
- working
Example Sentences
Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2022 The skirmish over Arista was the second great battle of Clive’s life, as a sedulous Vanity Fair account of the affair put it. Amy X. Wang, Rolling Stone, 9 Sep. 2021 One might be tempted to defend this sedulous cultivation of Tom Barrack by Bloomberg and Charlie Rose by asserting that no one on the outside could know the truth of what was going on inside Trump’s brain or the Middle East at the time. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 21 July 2021 Word History
Latin sedulus, from sedulo sincerely, diligently, from sed-, se without + dolus guile — more at suicide
1540, in the meaning defined at sense 1
sedulous
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- diligent
- engaged
- employed
- busy
- assiduous
- occupied
- working
- preoccupied
- active
- industrious
- laborious
- immersed
- bustling
- hopping
- absorbed
- focused
- astir
- tied-up
- buzzing
- concentrating
- engrossed
- humming
- indefatigable
- animated
- tireless
- operating
- intent
- swamped
- going
- vigorous
- flourishing
- operative
- lively
- functioning
- vibrant
- operational
- untiring
- hardworking
- energetic
- running
- focussed
- thriving
- living
- functional
- knee-deep
- happening
- alive
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- idle
- unemployed
- free
- sleepy
- unoccupied
- inactive
- latent
- quiescent
- unbusy
- passive
- inert
- slow
- lifeless
- dormant
- dull
- asleep
- dead
- inoperative
- nonoperating
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of sedulous are assiduous, busy, diligent, and industrious. While all these words mean "actively engaged or occupied," sedulous implies painstaking and persevering application.
The synonyms assiduous and sedulous are sometimes interchangeable, but assiduous stresses careful and unremitting application.
The meanings of busy and sedulous largely overlap; however, busy chiefly stresses activity as opposed to idleness or leisure.
Although the words diligent and sedulous have much in common, diligent suggests earnest application to some specific object or pursuit.
The words industrious and sedulous can be used in similar contexts, but industrious implies characteristic or habitual devotion to work.