Word of the Day : September 5, 2022

assiduous

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adjective uh-SIJ-uh-wus

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What It Means

Assiduous is a formal word that means “showing great care, attention, and effort.”

// Thanks to the assiduous efforts of the local land trust over many years, a substantial amount of whip-poor-will habitat is now protected from economic development.

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assiduous in Context

“No entombed Egyptian pharaoh has had the stunning and star-studded afterlife of King Tut…. It’s all due to a stroke of good luck. Which would include an amazing dearth of tomb-pillaging, an intrepid archeologist and his team, plus meticulous documentation from National Geographic. Also, an assiduous PR campaign for various touring exhibits celebrating the life and possessions of the ‘boy king.’” — Jim Sullivan, WBUR.org (Boston, Massachusetts), 13 July 2022

Did You Know?

While assiduous means “showing great care, attention, and effort,” and in some situations may be an appropriate substitute for careful, it’s got a bit more oomph than careful in that it suggests a dogged or tireless persistence. If you are assiduous in your efforts (or work, research, analysis, training, preparations, etc.) for example, it’s implied that you’re in it for the long haul, or that you have the ability to “sit with” a task or challenge for a considerable amount of time. This makes sense given that assiduous comes from the Latin verb assidēre, meaning “to sit beside.”

Word Family Quiz

Unscramble the letters to reveal a descendant of Latin assidēre (“to sit beside”) that can mean "to determine the importance, size, or value of": SSSSAE.

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