dutiful
Americanadjective
-
performing the duties expected or required of one; characterized by doing one's duty: a dutiful child.
a dutiful citizen;
a dutiful child.
- Synonyms:
- duteous, submissive, obedient, deferential, respectful
-
required by duty; proceeding from or expressive of a sense of duty.
dutiful attention.
adjective
-
exhibiting or having a sense of duty
-
characterized by or resulting from a sense of duty
a dutiful answer
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dutiful
Explanation
Are you a dutiful person? If you are, then you do as you're told, out of a feeling of duty and obligation. Dutiful children know this means cleaning one's room, taking out the trash, and not talking back! The adjective dutiful is often used to describe obedient children, servants, and soldiers, as well as anyone else who willingly obeys orders. Not surprisingly, dutiful can also have a somewhat negative meaning. For example, if your graduation speaker gives a painfully boring address, you may respond with "dutiful applause" when it's over. That means you are clapping out of a sense of duty and respect, not because you thought the speech was any good.
Vocabulary lists containing dutiful
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Dutiful Meg paradoxically longs for leisure and fashionable clothes; impetuous Jo yearns for literary fame; shy, music-loving Beth wishes only for everyone to be happy; artistic Amy craves admiration and status.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025
He added: "This is a very sad day for the United Kingdom. Dutiful, devoted, and diligent, his like will never be seen again."
From BBC • Apr. 9, 2021
My earliest reading memory An adult book – Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir.
From The Guardian • Jul. 31, 2020
Dutiful and long-suffering, she recognizes what a “striving, gutless wonder she’d married,” but she can’t escape.
From Washington Post • Jul. 21, 2015
Dutiful youth! what a treasure you will prove to a dignified and gentlemanly parent,—to a fond and doting wife!
From The Emigrants Of Ahadarra The Works of William Carleton, Volume Two by Carleton, William
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
