diligently
Americanadverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of diligently
Explanation
Doing something diligently means doing it thoroughly and well. It's the opposite of doing it lazily or shoddily. If you are tireless, persevering, and do things with great care, then you do things diligently. This is an adverb that goes with hard and careful work. If you have a test coming up, the more diligently you review your materials, the better your grade will be. Workers who do their job diligently tend to get promoted. Some dogs diligently pursue squirrels in the park. When someone uses this word about something you've done, it's a huge compliment.
Vocabulary lists containing diligently
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President Obama's Speech at the United Nations
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
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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.
The general effect is more of 10 diligently prepared classroom lectures than of a broadly conceived historical narrative.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
In our case, it felt like a task we had to complete urgently and diligently.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
If you save diligently throughout your working life, chances are good you’re going to end up some kind of rich.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
And those in the sport have fairly diligently avoided mentioning his name since.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
I don’t think I ever studied more diligently than in the weeks after our evening at Ntselamanzi.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
