UK /əˈfɪʃəs/
adj Freq #65198

Meanings

  1. 1
    adj

    Obliging, attentive, eager to please.

    Elizabeth's misery increased, at such unnecessary, such officious attention!

  2. 2
    adj

    Offensively intrusive or interfering in offering advice and services.

    The help tended to be officious, the rules, if heeded, restrictive, and the management meddlesome.

Thesaurus

Word family
Forms officiouslyofficiousness
Derived forms inofficiousofficiouslyofficiousnessoverofficioussuperofficiousultraofficiousunofficious

Etymology

15th century, from Middle English offycyous, from Latin officiōsus (“kindly”), from officium (“service”).

Topics

markdown

Send feedback

Optional — only if you'd like a reply.