Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective vigilant contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of vigilant are alert, watchful, and wide-awake. While all these words mean "being on the lookout especially for danger or opportunity," vigilant suggests intense, unremitting, wary watchfulness.

eternally vigilant in the safeguarding of democracy

Where would alert be a reasonable alternative to vigilant?

The words alert and vigilant can be used in similar contexts, but alert stresses readiness or promptness in meeting danger or in seizing opportunity.

alert traders anticipated the stock market's slide

When is watchful a more appropriate choice than vigilant?

The meanings of watchful and vigilant largely overlap; however, watchful is the least explicit term.

the watchful eye of the department supervisor

When is it sensible to use wide-awake instead of vigilant?

Although the words wide-awake and vigilant have much in common, wide-awake applies to watchfulness for opportunities and developments more often than dangers.

wide-awake companies latched onto the new technology

Examples of vigilant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In fact, pet owners should be extra vigilant today. Georgia Nicols, The Denver Post, 6 Oct. 2024 Residents are urged to be more vigilant about safety as the summer heat lingers. Skylar Heisey, The Arizona Republic, 23 Sep. 2024 Hence, users should be vigilant about their email inbox and when downloading pirated content, which has long been exploited to serve malware. Michael Kan, PCMAG, 23 Sep. 2024 As dangerous social media trends continue to emerge online, parents and medical professionals will have to remain vigilant and look out for potentially harmful information on the apps kids use daily. Alex Clark, CBS News, 30 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for vigilant 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vigilant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Thesaurus Entries Near vigilant

Cite this Entry

“Vigilant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vigilant. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on vigilant

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!