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DUTIFUL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Willingly obedient out of a sense of duty and respect
Example:
Patient Griselda was a chaste and duteous wife
Synonyms:
duteous; dutiful
Classified under:
Similar:
obedient (dutifully complying with the commands or instructions of those in authority)
Derivation:
dutifulness (piety by virtue of devotion to duty)
Context examples:
I see that more than a mere dutiful morning visit to your aunt was in question; and woe betide him, and her too, when it comes to things of consequence, when they are placed in circumstances requiring fortitude and strength of mind, if she have not resolution enough to resist idle interference in such a trifle as this.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
Hannah had 'dished up' an astonishing breakfast for the traveler, finding it impossible to vent her excitement in any other way, and Meg and Jo fed their mother like dutiful young storks, while they listened to her whispered account of Father's state, Mr. Brooke's promise to stay and nurse him, the delays which the storm occasioned on the homeward journey, and the unspeakable comfort Laurie's hopeful face had given her when she arrived, worn out with fatigue, anxiety, and cold.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
