dutiful

[doo-tuh-fuhl, dyoo-]

adjective

1. 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

2. required by duty; proceeding from or expressive of a sense of duty.

   dutiful attention.

dutiful

/ ˈdjuːtɪfʊl /

adjective

1. exhibiting or having a sense of duty

2. characterized by or resulting from a sense of duty

   a dutiful answer

Other Word Forms

• dutifully adverb
• dutifulness noun
• quasi-dutiful adjective
• undutiful adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dutiful¹

First recorded in 1545–55; duty + -ful

Example Sentences

“It Girl” is dutiful in giving Birkin credit as a serious actress and singer, but it never brings her fully to life.

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From the journals Metcalfe has surmised that Vivien, herself a brilliant literary scholar and teacher, had willfully lived out her marriage under Blundy’s shadow, the dutiful handmaiden to a literary eminence.

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There have been a lot of dutiful, fact-check-style responses pointing out that Superman is an immigrant and the character was always “woke,” in that he has a history of fighting fascists and KKK members.

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Jeffrey Wright, an Emmy winner for “Angels in America” in 2004, channeled the Washington, D.C., world he grew up in to create a portrait of a dutiful government employee.

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Just as Charles was once held up as the antagonist against his beloved ex-wife Diana, Meghan has been cast as the inevitable adversary of dutiful and popular Princess Kate.

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Related Words

• conscientious