Synonym Chooser

How is the word sedulous different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of sedulous are assiduous, busy, diligent, and industrious. While all these words mean "actively engaged or occupied," sedulous implies painstaking and persevering application.

a sedulous investigation of the murder

Where would assiduous be a reasonable alternative to sedulous?

The synonyms assiduous and sedulous are sometimes interchangeable, but assiduous stresses careful and unremitting application.

assiduous practice

When can busy be used instead of sedulous?

The meanings of busy and sedulous largely overlap; however, busy chiefly stresses activity as opposed to idleness or leisure.

too busy to spend time with the children

When is diligent a more appropriate choice than sedulous?

Although the words diligent and sedulous have much in common, diligent suggests earnest application to some specific object or pursuit.

very diligent in her pursuit of a degree

In what contexts can industrious take the place of sedulous?

The words industrious and sedulous can be used in similar contexts, but industrious implies characteristic or habitual devotion to work.

industrious employees

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sedulous Putting festivals like this on stage is clearly just one part of the slow, sedulous work of relationship building and repair. Jeremy Eichler, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Mar. 2023 Among the advantages that billionaires receive due to their wealth is sedulous defenses by journalists and other camp followers. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 16 Dec. 2022 The wrong calls on the Truss program reflected a knee-jerk impulse of supply-siders to react to anything even remotely resembling the policies of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan with sedulous adoration. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2022 Led by Martin Amis, their ranks included Julian Barnes, Salman Rushdie—and a sedulous outlier named A.N. Wilson. Brenda Cronin, WSJ, 28 Oct. 2022 Manchin has been a sedulous supporter of the fossil fuel industry. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2022 The skirmish over Arista was the second great battle of Clive’s life, as a sedulous Vanity Fair account of the affair put it. Amy X. Wang, Rolling Stone, 9 Sep. 2021 One might be tempted to defend this sedulous cultivation of Tom Barrack by Bloomberg and Charlie Rose by asserting that no one on the outside could know the truth of what was going on inside Trump’s brain or the Middle East at the time. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 21 July 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sedulous
Adjective
  • When deciding to purchase a franchise, conduct diligent research.
    Michael McFall, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025
  • Weather gossip filled his incoming mail with friends, like James Madison and Ezra Stiles, who sent diligent reports.
    Sara Georgini, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Compared to 21 to 25-year-old workers in 2018, today's Gen Z feels 11 percent more stressed, 9 percent more overwhelmed, 8 percent less happy, 8 percent less engaged and 5 percent less successful.
    Jess Thomson, Newsweek, 17 Jan. 2025
  • Simpson displayed the maturity to stay engaged a week later against Ole Miss, converting a key two-point play when Milroe was knocked out in the third quarter.
    Kennington Smith III, The Athletic, 16 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office in just over a week, the returning commander in chief has scheduled a busy weekend of meetings with House Republicans to discuss policy priorities for the incoming administration.
    Cami Mondeaux, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 11 Jan. 2025
  • Not many pieces require such heroics: the reality is that fact checkers are busy people, who traffic only occasionally in the dark arts of deep research.
    Fergus McIntosh, The New Yorker, 11 Jan. 2025

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Thesaurus Entries Near sedulous

Cite this Entry

“Sedulous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sedulous. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on sedulous

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