assiduity
Americannoun
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constant or close application or effort; diligence; industry.
-
assiduities, devoted or solicitous attentions.
noun
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constant and close application
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(often plural) devoted attention
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of assiduity
From the Latin word assiduitās, dating back to 1595–1605. See assiduous, -ity
Explanation
When you do something with assiduity, you really focus your attention on it. If you work with assiduity on a research paper, you're sure to get an A. If you've ever watched professional tennis, you've seen players focus with assiduity on their game. Diligent students, serious chess players, and successful businessmen all make great use of their assiduity to get what they want and do their best work. The noun assiduity has been around since the fifteenth century, and it comes from the Latin assiduatem, or "continual presence."
Vocabulary lists containing assiduity
Jane Eyre
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Wuthering Heights
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The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
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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.
See Examples For:
Despite his scholarly assiduity, Metcalfe is moving down an errant path that will never square the facts with lived experience.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2025
The House gave him a reference stating that he "acted with a very high degree of professionalism. He showed discretion, loyalty, assiduity and efficiency... there were no disciplinary issues affecting him".
From BBC ● May 1, 2018
All it takes is commitment and a little assiduity.
From Time ● Jan. 9, 2016
"There are no trees. The people are unhealthy in appearance - a circumstance which is attributed to their assiduity in pearl diving, which places a severe strain on the human constitution."
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2014
“Be firm, Herbert,” I would retort, plying my own pen with great assiduity.
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
Night and day I will watch and tend you, till the assiduities of my affection weary out the effects of your cruel disease brought on you—O God!—by your grief for me, your worthless Espras.”
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 2 Historical, Traditional, and Imaginative by Wilson, John Mackay
Your best chance would be to double your assiduities to Miss Alscrip.
From The Heiress; a comedy, in five acts by Burgoyne, John
My purse, my ornaments, my amusements, even the assiduities of my admirers, all on which my foolish heart was most fixed, I freely shared with her.
From Discipline by Brunton, Mary
The reputation of Lord Frederick's attentions gave me much more pleasure than the attentions themselves; and my companions knew how to flatter me, by reminding me of his assiduities.
From Discipline by Brunton, Mary
Their women did not marry until after they had arrived at the age of maturity, and had become sensible to the assiduities of courtship.
From An Account of The Kingdom of Nepal And of the Territories Annexed to this Dominion by the House of Gorkha by Hamilton, Francis
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.
