advertent
Americanadjective
Usage
What does advertent mean? Advertent describes something or someone as attentive or heedful, as in Karine aced the test because she was advertent to all the professor’s lectures.Not a very common term, advertent can generally be used to mean attentive, as in paying attention or thinking about something. Someone who is advertent about something is observing or considering their actions and their impact.You’re more likely to see advertent with its more-common antonym, inadvertent. While it means inattentive or unheedful, inadvertent is most often used to mean unintentional. In this situation, advertent would be used to mean the opposite idea—that is, intentional. When something is done advertently, it means that it was done in order to reach a desired outcome.Example: Theo lied about what he was doing Saturday night in an advertent to keep the surprise party a surprise.
Other Word Forms
- advertently adverb
Etymology
Origin of advertent
1665–75; < Latin advertent- (stem of advertēns, present participle of advertere ), equivalent to ad- ad- + vert- turn + -ent- -ent
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.
Federal prison authorities, he said, “would have very, very substantial concerns about that because of the risk of either advertent or inadvertent disruption of the IV lines.”
From New York Times
The next morning Evelyn appears cold and still in her bed, as Stella realizes that she has become an inadvertent — or perhaps advertent? — murderer.
From Washington Post
And it’s very dark, so inadvertent — or advertent — touching just might occur.
From Seattle Times
Thirty-five years later, it is possible to see Micheaux as a central figure in American culture and, advertent or not, one of the great innovators in American cinema.
From New York Times
The act of adverting, of the quality of being advertent; attention; notice; regard; heedfulness.
From Project Gutenberg
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.
