sedulous

comparative more sedulous · superlative most sedulous

1. Of a person: diligent in application or pursuit; constant and persevering in business or in endeavours to effect a goal; steadily industrious.

   She wondered what sort of herbs they were which the old man was so sedulous to gather.

   1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Hester and Pearl”, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, page 212

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   Since firſt this Subject for Heroic Song / Pleaſ'd me long chooſing, and beginning late; / Not ſedulous by Nature to indite / Warrs, hitherto the onely Argument / Heroic deem'd, [...]

   1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 25–29

   His [Edward III of England's] parliament made frequent remonſtrances againſt this baſe oblivion of himſelf: the parliaments, at this time, were not as formerly, factions ready to oppreſs public liberty, but aſſemblies of wiſe and good men, ſedulous for common welfare, and of wiſdom equal to the rectitude of their intentions; [...]

   1764, [Oliver Goldsmith], “Letter XIX”, in An History of England, in a Series of Letters from a Nobleman to His Son, London: Printed for J[ohn] Newbery, […], →OCLC, page 137; republished London: Printed for T. Carnan and F[rancis] Newbery, Jun. […], 1772, →OCLC, page 141

   Next day, she moved into a small room in a lodging-house off the Edgware Road, and there for a whole week she was sedulous in the practice of her tricks.

   1911, Max Beerbohm, chapter II, in Zuleika Dobson

   Leading the life I did, of the sedulous, strained nurse, I had to do something to keep myself fit.

   1915, Ford Madox Hueffer [i.e., Ford Madox Ford], chapter I, in The Good Soldier […], Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, published 1972 (1982 printing), →ISBN, part I, page 15

   The pretty setting and glittering ship and dashing staff and sedulous servants and solicitous fun-managers all want something from me, and it’s not just the price of my ticket—they’ve already got that.

   1997, David Foster Wallace, “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again”, in A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN

   Synonyms: assiduous, assiduous, diligent, dogged, hardworking, industrious, notable, studious

2. Of an activity: carried out with diligence.

   The Scots have always been a fiercely independent people, but it surprised me how far this sedulous process of separation has gone already.

   2010 March 9, Paul Routledge, “Scotland is turning into another country … loch, stock and barrel”, in Daily Mirror, London: Reach plc, →ISSN, →OCLC

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   Now as there are many great wits to be condemned, who have neglected the increment of Arts, and the ſedulous purſuit of knowledge; ſo are there not a few very much to be pittied, whoſe induſtry being not attended with naturall parts, they have ſweat to little purpoſe, and rolled the ſtone in vain.

   1650, Thomas Browne, “Of the Nearer and More Immediate Causes of Popular Errours, […]”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 14

   Miss [Elizabeth] Branwell's affectionate regard for her dead sister's [Maria Branwell's] children caused her to take deep interest in everything relating to them, their health, the comfort and cleanliness of their home, and the sedulous culture of their minds.

   1886, Francis A. Leyland, “The Rev. Patrick Brontë”, in The Brontë Family: With Special Reference to Patrick Branwell Brontë [...] In Two Volumes, volume I, London: Hurst and Blackett, publishers, […], →OCLC, page 55

   He had much to learn about boys, and he learnt not by direct observation—for which he believed he was unfitted—but by sedulous imitation of the more experienced masters.

   1907, E.M. Forster, The Longest Journey, Part II, XVII [Uniform ed., p. 169]

   With the right equipment, an indoor grower could create a utopia for his plants, an artificial habitat more perfect than any in nature, and his happy, happy weeds would respond. These sedulous attentions would be wasted on male plants, which are worse than useless in sinsemilla production.

   2001, Michael Pollan, “Desire: Intoxication/Plant: Marijuana”, in The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →ISBN, page 135; republished New York, N.Y.: Random House, 2014, →ISBN