attentive
[uh-ten-tiv]
- characterized by or giving attention; observant: an attentive audience.
- thoughtful of others; considerate; polite; courteous: an attentive host.
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Origin of attentive
Synonyms
See more synonyms for attentive on Thesaurus.com1. heedful, mindful, aware, alert, awake, watchful.
Antonyms
1. indifferent, apathetic, unconcerned.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for unattentive
Historical Examples
A short speech; and an unattentive, and disheartened audience!
The public who do not believe in military operations without bloodshed may be unattentive.
The Story of the Malakand Field ForceSir Winston S. Churchill
Young men, who are too unattentive to receive lectures, are irresistibly taken with performances.
The Tatler, Volume 3Various
Milk and sugar and was unattentive as to cleanliness with the child?
Warren Commission (9 of 26): Hearings Vol. IX (of 15)The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
attentive
- paying attention; listening carefully; observant
- (postpositive often foll by to) careful to fulfil the needs or wants (of); considerate (about)she was always attentive to his needs
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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 unattentive
attentive
adj.
late 14c. (implied in attentively), from Old French attentif, from Vulgar Latin *attenditus, from Latin attentus "heedful, observant" (see attend). Sense of "actively ministering to the needs and wants" (of another person) is from early 16c. Related: Attentively.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper