sedulous means of a person: diligent in application or pursuit; constant and persevering in business or in endeavours to effect a goal; steadily industrious. It carries an Arena rating of 1928, earned across 32 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, sedulous ranks #3,773 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #4,715 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #4,999 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #5,574 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound.
sedulous is pronounced /ˈsɛd͡ʒʊləs/.
Why “sedulous” is a great word
Marked by diligent and constant application, a steady industriousness in pursuit or practice. From Latin *sēdulus* ("diligent, zealous"), probably from the phrase *sē dolō* ("without guile, diligently"), + English *-ous*; first attested in English in the 1530s. Unlike "zealous," which burns with fervent passion, or "assiduous," which pulses with unremitting motion, sedulous suggests a slower, more painstaking care—a devotion to the granular. It is the monk illuminating a manuscript by candlelight, stroke by patient stroke; the watchmaker adjusting an escapement until the mechanism breathes with precision; the gardener training a vine along a wall, year after year, with no audience and no hurry. It is the quiet triumph of will over the entropy of distraction, the devotion not of fire, but of a steady hand tracing the same path until the work is done.
Etymology
From Latin sēdulus (“diligent, industrious, sedulous; solicitous; unremitting; zealous”) + English -ous. Sēdulus is probably derived from sēdulō (“diligently; carefully; purposely; zealously”) (possibly from sē- (prefix meaning ‘without’) + dolō (ablative singular of dolus (“deceit, deception; evil intent, malice”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *del- (“to count, reckon”))) + -us (suffix forming adjectives).
adj
- Of a person: diligent in application or pursuit; constant and persevering in business or in endeavours to effect a goal; steadily industrious.
- Of an activity: carried out with diligence.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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