officious
English
Etymology
16th century, from Latin officiōsus (“kindly”), from officium (“service”).
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ɪʃəs
Adjective
officious (comparative more officious, superlative most officious)
- (obsolete) Obliging, attentive, eager to please.
- Offensively intrusive or interfering in offering advice and services.
- 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 53:
- Elizabeth's misery increased, at such unnecessary, such officious attention!
- 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 168:
- The help tended to be officious, the rules, if heeded, restrictive, and the management meddlesome.
-
Derived terms
Related terms
English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₃ep- (0 c, 25 e)
Translations
eager to please
|
offensively intrusive or interfering
|
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.