as in respectful
marked by or showing proper regard for another's higher status
the family showed a dutiful deference to their minister when he came to dinner
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Recent Examples of dutiful
Citing Netflix's decision to continue to work with Dave Chappelle, 52, despite the comedian's anti-trans jokes , Maron said the streamer was only dutiful to its bottom line.
—
Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2025
Hansen portrayed himself as a dutiful husband and father and later claimed that his wife was unaware of his crimes.
—Caroline Blair, People.com, 21 Aug. 2025
Ruth knew the community said the same thing—anyone reading the New Testament out loud said the same thing—and were dutiful in concern for all those implicated in both beatitudes and the Civil Rights Act.
—Literary Hub, 19 Aug. 2025
Ouattara’s current number two, Tiémoko Meyliet Koné — a respected former central bank governor — is seen as loyal and dutiful, but not a future president.
—Joël Té-Léssia Assoko, semafor.com, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dutiful
Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2025
Hansen portrayed himself as a dutiful husband and father and later claimed that his wife was unaware of his crimes.
—Caroline Blair, People.com, 21 Aug. 2025
Ruth knew the community said the same thing—anyone reading the New Testament out loud said the same thing—and were dutiful in concern for all those implicated in both beatitudes and the Civil Rights Act.
—Literary Hub, 19 Aug. 2025
Ouattara’s current number two, Tiémoko Meyliet Koné — a respected former central bank governor — is seen as loyal and dutiful, but not a future president.
—Joël Té-Léssia Assoko, semafor.com, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dutiful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dutiful
Adjective
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Shields appeared on Million Dollaz Worth Of Game and initially tried to be respectful.—
Armon Sadler,
VIBE.com,
15 Oct. 2025
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Although there are many pop culture elements of this movie that may feel universal—the teens going absolutely bananas for their favorite pop stars, for instance—the clothing and some elements of the plot, including those which reference mythology, are respectful nods to Korean culture.—
Miranda Rake,
Parents,
14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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And many advocates are promoting a vision of public health that’s less dependent on mandates and appeals to authority, and more deferent to individuals’ beliefs.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
4 Aug. 2025
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The Ptolemaic model depicted planets moving around Earth in a big circle, known as a deferent, then going around a smaller circle while retrograding, called an epicycle.—
Carlie Procell,
USA TODAY,
25 Nov. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Dutiful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dutiful. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.
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