Word of the Day

: December 30, 2016

solicitous

adjective suh-LIS-uh-tus

What It Means

1 : showing attentive care or protectiveness : manifesting or expressing solicitude

2 : full of concern or fears : apprehensive

3 : meticulously careful

4 : full of desire : eager

solicitous in Context

Lyle has developed a reputation as one of the best tailors in the area because he is solicitous of his customers and their needs.

"Any given meal included a plethora of delectable choices, including barbecued ribs, schnitzel, ice cream and German chocolate cake, served up by solicitous staff." — Erica Rosenberg, The Chicago Tribune, 2 Oct. 2016

Did You Know?

If you're solicitous about learning the connections between words, you'll surely want to know about the relationship between solicitous and another word you've probably heard before—solicit. Solicitous doesn't come from solicit, but the two words are related. They both have their roots in the Latin word sollicitus, meaning "anxious." Solicitous itself came directly from this Latin word, whereas solicit made its way to English with a few more steps. From sollicitus came the Latin verb sollicitare, meaning "to disturb, agitate, move, or entreat." Forms of this verb were borrowed into Anglo-French, and then Middle English, and have survived in Modern English as solicit.