dutiful
Americanadjective
-
performing the duties expected or required of one; characterized by doing one's duty: a dutiful child.
a dutiful citizen;
a dutiful child.
- Synonyms:
- duteous, submissive, obedient, deferential, respectful
-
required by duty; proceeding from or expressive of a sense of duty.
dutiful attention.
adjective
-
exhibiting or having a sense of duty
-
characterized by or resulting from a sense of duty
a dutiful answer
Other Word Forms
- dutifully adverb
- dutifulness noun
- quasi-dutiful adjective
- undutiful adjective
Etymology
Origin of dutiful
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Stick with broad, cheap exposure to the U.S. stock market, and a dutiful allocation overseas, where valuations are at least lower.
From Barron's • Mar. 6, 2026
Variety described it as "dutiful fan service, sure to satisfy legions of cultists cosplaying in tweed, but not unapproachable to viewers who aren't entirely au fait with the show".
From BBC • Mar. 5, 2026
Nicholson leading his fellow prisoners of war in dutiful observance of a wartime code of honor.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 8, 2025
From the journals Metcalfe has surmised that Vivien, herself a brilliant literary scholar and teacher, had willfully lived out her marriage under Blundy’s shadow, the dutiful handmaiden to a literary eminence.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 19, 2025
The stories that Vivian began to tell only with prodding, in dutiful answer to specific questions, are spilling forth unprompted, one after another, so many that even Vivian seems surprised.
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.