Meanings
comparative more officious · superlative most officious
- obsoleteObliging, attentive, eager to please.
Elizabeth's misery increased, at such unnecessary, such officious attention!
1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter XI, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 2061 more example
‘It is essential that the nation become accustomed to managing its own affairs, so that it will emerge from this state of infancy in which an anxious and officious government attempts to keep the people’.
1998 [1807 December], Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein, letter to Karl August von Hardenberg, in History of Political Thought, volume 19, Exeter: Imprint Academic, page 249 - Offensively intrusive or interfering in offering advice and services.
The help tended to be officious, the rules, if heeded, restrictive, and the management meddlesome.
1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 168
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveintrusive in a meddling or offensive manner
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinofficiōsus“kindly”
- Middle Englishoffycyous
- Englishofficious
15th century, from Middle English offycyous, from Latin officiōsus (“kindly”), from officium (“service”).
More words from Middle English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek πολυπρᾱ́γμων
- πολυπρᾱ́γμων (poluprā́gmōn)offensively intrusive or interfering
Bulgarian натрапчив, досаден
- натрапчив (natrapčiv)offensively intrusive or interfering
- досаден (dosaden)offensively intrusive or interfering
Chinese Mandarin 多管闲事的
- 多管闲事的offensively intrusive or interfering
Dutch bereidwillig, overijverig
- bereidwillig(obsolete in English) eager to please
- overijverig(obsolete in English) eager to please
- opdringerigoffensively intrusive or interfering
Finnish virkaintoinen, tungetteleva
- virkaintoinenoffensively intrusive or interfering
- tungettelevaoffensively intrusive or interfering
German übereifrig, dienstfertig
- übereifrig(obsolete in English) eager to please
- dienstfertig(obsolete in English) eager to please
- beflissen(obsolete in English) eager to please
- dienstgeflissen(obsolete in English) eager to please
- dienstbeflissen(obsolete in English) eager to please
- bemüht(obsolete in English) eager to please
- aufdringlichoffensively intrusive or interfering
- wichtigmacherischoffensively intrusive or interfering
Irish anchúramach
- anchúramachoffensively intrusive or interfering
Māori whakapōrearea, whawhewhawhe
- whakapōreareaoffensively intrusive or interfering
- whawhewhawheoffensively intrusive or interfering
Norwegian offisiøs
- offisiøsoffensively intrusive or interfering
Polish nadgorliwy
- nadgorliwyoffensively intrusive or interfering
Russian уго́дливый, назо́йливый
- уго́дливый (ugódlivyj)offensively intrusive or interfering
- назо́йливый (nazójlivyj)offensively intrusive or interfering
- навя́зчивый (navjázčivyj)offensively intrusive or interfering
Spanish oficioso, oficioso
- oficioso(obsolete in English) eager to please
- oficiosooffensively intrusive or interfering
Swedish fjäskig, beskäftig
- fjäskig(obsolete in English) eager to please
- beskäftigoffensively intrusive or interfering
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with officious
Cite this entry
officious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/officious
“officious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/officious. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “officious,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/officious.
Source: officious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.