different between attentive vs indefatigable

English

Etymology

From Middle English attentif, attentijf, from Old French attentif.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??t?nt?v/

Adjective

attentive (comparative more attentive, superlative most attentive)

1. Paying attention; noticing, watching, listening, or attending closely.

   She is an attentive listener, but does not like to talk much.

   • 1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka (republished by Eland, 2019; p. 94):

     King-of-the-Sky was sitting alone in the Leeward Village meeting-house, gesticulating to the attentive shades of night, roaring out the genealogy of his ancestors, telling the sleeping world of his greatness.

2. Courteous; mindful.

   a husband attentive to his wife's needs

Synonyms

• audient
• mindful
• reckful

Antonyms

• inattentive, reckless

Translations

See also

• alert
• wary
• watchful

Anagrams

• tentative

French

Adjective

attentive

1. feminine singular of attentif

English

Etymology

From Middle French, from Latin ind?fat?g?bilis (“untiring”), from in- (“not”) + d?fat?g? (“to tire out”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??nd??fæt???bl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??nd??fæt???b?l/, [??nd??fæ????b?l]
• (sometimes proscribed) IPA^(key): /??nd?f??ti??b?l/
• Hyphenation: in?de?fa?tig?a?ble

Adjective

indefatigable (comparative more indefatigable, superlative most indefatigable)

1. Extremely persistent and untiring.

   Synonyms: inexhaustible, relentless, tireless, unflagging, unsinkable, untiring, unwearying

   Antonym: (much less common) defatigable

Derived terms

Translations