SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
solicitous
adjective
Showing attentive concern or care, sometimes excessively.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Attentively concerned
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topSolicitous describes active concern for another's needs. Anxious emphasizes worry, and protective emphasizes preventing harm.
RELATED FORMS, ONE FEATURED ENTRY
The solicitous family
These forms are closely related, but their grammar and use are not identical. Expand a form to compare its meaning and examples.
solicitudenoun
Attentive care or concern for someone's needs or well-being.
Attentive concern
Closest synonyms
Related expressions
Her solicitude for the tired travelers was evident in the meal she prepared.
The director tried to pacify the worried assistant by showing him the returned boxes and agreeing on a short check of their contents. Her solicitude appeared in practical attention to the newcomer's concerns as well, including a quiet place to review the opening cues.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See solicitous in use
The solicitous host checked whether every guest had a seat.
Later, an actor became petulant because a minor costume adjustment delayed his scene. He complained about the inconvenience and pushed the revised schedule away. A solicitous costume assistant asked what he needed and offered a quiet place to review his lines while she finished the adjustment.
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