attentive

English

Etymology

From Middle English attentif, attentijf, from Old French attentif.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈtɛntɪv/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

attentive (comparative more attentive, superlative most attentive)

1. Paying attention; noticing, watching, listening, or attending closely.

   She is an attentive listener, but does not like to talk much.

   • 1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka, republished by Eland, 2019; p. 94:

     King-of-the-Sky was sitting alone in the Leeward Village meeting-house, gesticulating to the attentive shades of night, roaring out the genealogy of his ancestors, telling the sleeping world of his greatness.

2. Courteous; mindful.

   a husband attentive to his wife’s needs

Synonyms

• audient
• heedful
• mindful
• reckful

Antonyms

• inattentive, reckless

Derived terms

• attentively
• attentiveness
• attentivity
• hyperattentive
• nonattentive
• overattentive
• polyattentive
• preattentive
• unattentive

 

Translations

paying attention

Arabic: مُنْتَبِه (muntabih) Belarusian: ува́жлівы (uvážlivy) Bulgarian: внима́телен (bg) (vnimátelen) Catalan: atent (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 注意的 (zh) (zhùyì de), 細心的／细心的 (zh) (xìxīn de) Czech: pozorný (cs) Danish: opmærksom (da) Dutch: aandachtig (nl), oplettend (nl) Esperanto: atenta Finnish: tarkkaavainen (fi), valpas (fi) French: attentif (fr) German: aufmerksam (de) Greek: Ancient: ἐπιμελής (epimelḗs) Hindi: सचेत (hi) (sacet), चौकस (hi) (caukas) Hungarian: figyelmes (hu) Ido: detalema Ingrian: vilkas Irish: aireach Italian: attento (it) Japanese: 注意深い (ja) (ちゅういぶかい, chūibukai) Korean: 조심의 (ko) (josimui), 세심하다 (sesimhada) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: وریا (wirya) Latin: attentus, intentus Latvian: uzmanīgs, rūpīgs Macedonian: внимателен (vnimatelen) Maori: puakaha, rahirahi, pīkari Norwegian: Bokmål: oppmerksom (no) Nynorsk: oppmerksam Polish: baczny (pl), uważny (pl) Portuguese: atencioso (pt), atento (pt) Romanian: atent (ro) Russian: внима́тельный (ru) (vnimátelʹnyj) Sanskrit: प्रबुध् (sa) (prabudh) Scottish Gaelic: cùramach Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: па̀жљив Roman: pàžljiv (sh) Slovak: pozorný Slovene: pozoren (sl) Spanish: atento (es), solícito (es) Swedish: uppmärksam (sv) Ukrainian: ува́жний (uk) (uvážnyj), ува́жливий (uk) (uvážlyvyj) Welsh: astud (cy), sylwgar (cy)

mindful

Dutch: attent (nl) Esperanto: atentema Finnish: huomaavainen (fi)

See also

• alert
• wary
• watchful

Anagrams

• tentative

French

Pronunciation

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

Adjective

attentive

1. feminine singular of attentif