Conscientious

//ˌkɑnʃiˈɛnʃəs// adj

adj ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Thorough, careful, or vigilant in one’s task performance; painstaking.

    "He was a thoughtful and conscientious worker."

  2. 2
    Influenced by conscience; principled; governed by a strict regard to the dictates of conscience, or by the known or supposed rules of right and wrong (said of a person).

    "The advice of wise and conscientious people."

Adjective
  1. 1
    characterized by extreme care and great effort wordnet
  2. 2
    guided by or in accordance with conscience or sense of right and wrong wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
painstakingaccurateactiveattentivecarefulcautious

Example

More examples

"Though Alfred is scrupulous in fulfilling his duties at work, he is less conscientious about his obligations at home."

Etymology

From Middle French conscientieux, from Medieval Latin cōnscientiōsus. Its English equivalent could possibly be analyzed as conscient + -ous. See more at conscience.

Related phrases

conscientious objectionconscientious objector

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.