industrious
[in-duhs-tree-uh s]
- working energetically and devotedly; hard-working; diligent: an industrious person.
- Obsolete. skillful.
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Origin of industrious
1525–35; < Middle French industrie “cleverness, skill,” from Old French industrie “contrivance, device,” from Latin industrius “diligent, assiduous”; equivalent to indo-, by-form of in-in-2 + -struus, noun derivative of struere “to arrange, devise, build”
Synonyms
See more synonyms for industrious on Thesaurus.com1. assiduous, sedulous, energetic.
Synonym study
1. See busy.
Antonyms
1. lazy, indolent.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for industrious
Contemporary Examples
The Moravians were an industrious, inventive, highly organized, devout people who valued education for all.
There were plenty of lovable, responsible, industrious “good role models” for my parents to try to push on me.
Empire, Rhodes seemed to think, was just the honest result of industrious work.
Corruption is so endemic that one industrious Czech started a corruption safari bus tour.
Some industrious Chelyabinsk citizen has already offered to sell a piece of the meteor for a souvenir.
Historical Examples
There is a look of industrious nothingness about him, such as busy dogs have.
MalboneThomas Wentworth Higginson
The industrious and thrifty would be at the mercy of the lazy and wicked.
An Explanation of Luther's Small CatechismJoseph Stump
It was a mistake, then, was it, to be temperate and industrious?
In the ValleyHarold Frederic
Many examples of pit dwellings have been found by industrious explorers.
English VillagesP. H. Ditchfield
The great Cuvier was a singularly accurate, careful, and industrious observer.
Self-HelpSamuel Smiles
industrious
- hard-working, diligent, or assiduous
- an obsolete word for skilful
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for industrious
adj.
"characterized by energy, effort, and attention," 1520s (implied in industriously), from Middle French industrieux and directly from Late Latin industriosus, from Latin industria (see industry). Retains the etymological sense. Related: Industriousness.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper