Diligent Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

The meaning of DILIGENT is characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic effort : painstaking. How to use diligent in a sentence. Did you know? Login SignUp Hello, Games&Quizzes Thesaurus WordoftheDay Features BuyingGuide M-WBooks JoinMWU MyWordsMyWords ViewRecents Account LogOut diligent adjective SaveWord dil·​i·​gent |\ˈdi-lə-jənt \ Definitionofdiligent :characterizedbysteady,earnest,andenergeticeffort:painstaking adiligentworker OtherWordsfromdiligent Synonyms&Antonyms ChoosetheRightSynonym Didyouknow? MoreExampleSentences LearnMoreAboutdiligent OtherWordsfromdiligent diligently adverb Synonyms&Antonymsfordiligent Synonyms active, assiduous, bustling, busy, employed, engaged, hopping, industrious, laborious, occupied, sedulous, tied-up, working Antonyms idle, inactive, unbusy, unemployed, unoccupied VisittheThesaurusforMore  ChoosetheRightSynonymfordiligent busy,industrious,diligent,assiduous,sedulousmeanactivelyengagedoroccupied.busychieflystressesactivityasopposedtoidlenessorleisure. toobusytospendtimewiththechildren industriousimpliescharacteristicorhabitualdevotiontowork. industriousemployees diligentsuggestsearnestapplicationtosomespecificobjectorpursuit. verydiligentinherpursuitofadegree assiduousstressescarefulandunremittingapplication. assiduouspractice sedulousimpliespainstakingandperseveringapplication. asedulousinvestigationofthemurder Didyouknow? You'remorelikelytobediligentaboutsomethingifyoulovedoingit.Theetymologyofdiligentreflectsthefactthataffectioncanleadtoenergeticeffort.Theword,whichenteredEnglishinthe14thcenturybywayofAnglo-French,descendsfromtheLatinverbdiligere,meaning"tovalueoresteemhighly"or"tolove."TheLatindiligerewasformedbyaddingthedi-prefix(fromdis-,"apart")totheverblegere,anancestoroftheEnglishlegend,meaning"togather,select"or"toread."Ofcourse,youdon'tneedtocareforthetaskathandinordertobediligent,butitcertainlydoeshelp! ExamplesofdiligentinaSentence TheAmericanintelligencecommunity'ssinglegreatestfailingisitslackofgood"humint"—humanintelligence,thedirty,diligent,shoe-leatherpenetrationofterrornetworks. —JohannaMcGeary,Time,15Oct.2001 Likeanydiligentforeigncorrespondent,heattendsthebriefingsandcollectsfacetimewiththeofficials,butheknowsit'sthecitizens(theupstandingaswellasthejailers,thewhores,theblackmarketeersandthesmugglers)whotellthetruth… —RollingStone,19Sept.1996 Hewasafourth-yeardramastudentatUCLAanddiligentaboutsuchvaluableactorlyexercisesaseavesdropping,spying,andtellingcomplicatedliestofellowpassengersonairplanes. —MichaelChabon,AModelWorldandOtherStories,1991 Inspiteofdiligentworkaseditor,hackwriter,seacaptain,andassortedothertrades,hewounduppoor. —MonroeK.Spears,AmericanAmbitions,1987 astudentwhohasbeenunceasinglydiligentinpursuitofadegreeinmathematics RecentExamplesontheWeb It’sinthepersonalityofthenecessarystar:someonenotnicebutinevitable,notdiligentbutexplosive,notwell-roundedbutweird. — NewYorkTimes,24Apr.2022 AndwhilethemostintimateglimpsesherearethoseofamonarchsquelchinghappilyacrossBalmoralinherWelliesorscrutinizingherheatingbills,thecompleteportraitisoneofashrewdanddiligentmanager. — AnnaMundow,WSJ,22Apr.2022 Sohowcananymanufacturingmethod,howeverdiligent,everbecarbonnegative? — NickScott,RobbReport,5Apr.2022 However,withsomanyvariablesaffectingcompensation,employersmustbethoroughanddiligentindevelopingaconsistentpaystructure. — JohnnyC.TaylorJr.,USATODAY,29Mar.2022 Whowouldn’trootforsomeoneasseeminglycapable,diligentandwell-meaningasBalesinthefaceofsuchextremehardship? — GaryGoldstein,LosAngelesTimes,24Mar.2022 Andifsomeoneaskstoshareyourscreen,beincrediblydiligentthattheQRcodelinkedtothatphraseisn’tvisibletoanyone. — NickBrucker,Forbes,18Mar.2022 AdalynwasparticularlydiligentaboutwearinghermaskatschoolforherlittlesisterElla,whohadbeenbornjustafewdaysearlieronJan.28. — JulieMazziotta,PEOPLE.com,18Feb.2022 Findingpiecesthatworkedmeantbeingdiligentandcreative. — JanelleOkwodu,Vogue,10Feb.2022 SeeMore Theseexamplesentencesareselectedautomaticallyfromvariousonlinenewssourcestoreflectcurrentusageoftheword'diligent.'ViewsexpressedintheexamplesdonotrepresenttheopinionofMerriam-Websteroritseditors.Sendusfeedback. FirstKnownUseofdiligent 14thcentury,inthemeaningdefinedabove HistoryandEtymologyfordiligent MiddleEnglish,fromAnglo-French,fromLatindiligent-,diligens,frompresentparticipleofdiligeretoesteem,love,fromdi-(fromdis-apart)+legeretoselect—moreatlegend LearnMoreAboutdiligent Sharediligent PosttheDefinitionofdiligenttoFacebook SharetheDefinitionofdiligentonTwitter TimeTravelerfordiligent Thefirstknownuseofdiligentwas inthe14thcentury Seemorewordsfromthesamecentury ListentoOurPodcastAboutdiligent ThememusicbyJoshuaStamper©2006NewJerusalemMusic/ASCAP GetWordoftheDaydeliveredtoyourinbox! SignUp DictionaryEntriesNeardiligent diligency diligent diligentness SeeMoreNearbyEntries  Statisticsfordiligent LastUpdated 28Apr2022 Look-upPopularity CitethisEntry “Diligent.”Merriam-Webster.comDictionary,Merriam-Webster,https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diligent.Accessed8May.2022. Style:MLA MLA Chicago APA Merriam-Webster MoreDefinitionsfordiligent diligent adjective dil·​i·​gent |\ˈdi-lə-jənt \ KidsDefinitionofdiligent :showingsteadyandearnestcareandhardwork adiligentsearch OtherWordsfromdiligent diligently adverb MorefromMerriam-Websterondiligent Nglish:TranslationofdiligentforSpanishSpeakers BritannicaEnglish:TranslationofdiligentforArabicSpeakers WORDOFTHEDAY darling SeeDefinitionsandExamples» GetWordoftheDaydailyemail! TestYourVocabulary GreatWordsforScrabble WhichofthefollowingQ-without-Uwordsmeansthenumberfiveincardsordice? kamotiq cinq tranq qigong Testyourknowledge-andmaybelearnsomethingalongtheway. TAKETHEQUIZ Adailychallengeforcrosswordfanatics. TAKETHEQUIZ SubscribetoAmerica'slargestdictionaryandgetthousandsmoredefinitionsandadvancedsearch—adfree! 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