adjective
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vigilant or alert
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archaic not sleeping
Synonym Usage
See alert.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of watchful
Explanation
To be watchful is to be alert and aware. A watchful dog might keep an eye on the sidewalk in front of your house all afternoon. The adjective watchful is good for describing someone who keeps an attentive eye on things. A watchful teacher, for example, knows immediately when a student is being teased, and a watchful driver is quick to stop for a pedestrian crossing the street. When you're on the lookout, you're being watchful. The word comes from the Middle English waccheful, which used to have an alternate meaning of "wakeful" or "sleepless."
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.
Watchful for a Soviet attack from the north, Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, as the country’s military is known, were for years concentrated in Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s four large islands.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
Watchful pocketing is a mindset they bring there too: “It’s really about making people feel really special,” says Chu.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 13, 2023
Watchful uses computer vision as well as data analysis to identify and emulate app changes.
From Reuters • May 25, 2023
In Freeform's "The Watchful Eye," a grifter takes a position as a nanny for a rich family that resides in a grand old apartment building that may require an exorcism.
From Salon • Feb. 10, 2023
Watchful waiting, no political entanglements, unofficial observers—everything is here and this page could have been written ten years ago or yesterday.
From Thomas Jefferson The Apostle of Americanism by Chinard, Gilbert
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.
