SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
attentive
adjective
Giving careful attention or showing thoughtful concern for another person's needs.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Giving careful attention
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topWatchful emphasizes looking for change or danger; attentive covers careful listening and thought too.
Showing thoughtful concern
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topSolicitous can imply particularly close concern for another person's comfort or needs.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See attentive in use
An attentive listener noticed that the two speakers were using the same word differently.
When Jules joined the student animation studio, an amiable classmate invited him to share a worktable and asked about his interests. The classmate was also attentive, noticing that Jules could not see the demonstration from his chair.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license