Standard Lemma guide

duteous

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈdʒuː.ti.əs/ yod-coalescence
  • /ˈdjuː.ti.əs/ non-yod-coalescence
  • dated: /ˈdjuː.tʃəs/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈdu.ti.əs/
  • rhymes with -uːtiəs

1

adj

Meaning 1

dutiful

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic

Examples

  • a duteous son

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Obsequious; submissively obedient.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

willingly obedient out of a sense of duty and respect;

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a dutiful child
  • a dutiful citizen
  • Patient Griselda was a chaste and duteous wife

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dutiful

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Irregular combination of duty + -ous.

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: հլու (hlu) — obsequious; submissively obedient
  • Armenian: հնազանդ (hnazand) — obsequious; submissively obedient
  • Armenian: պարտաճանաչ (partačanačʻ) — obsequious; submissively obedient
  • Bulgarian: покорен (pokoren) — obsequious; submissively obedient
  • Bulgarian: послушен (poslušen) — obsequious; submissively obedient
  • Czech: poslušný — obsequious; submissively obedient
  • Czech: uctivý — obsequious; submissively obedient
  • Czech: oddaný — obsequious; submissively obedient
  • Russian: послу́шный/поко́рный до́лгу (poslúšnyj/pokórnyj dólgu) — obsequious; submissively obedient
  • Russian: исполни́тельный (ispolnítelʹnyj) — obsequious; submissively obedient
  • Swedish: underdånig — obsequious; submissively obedient
  • Swedish: plikttrogen — obsequious; submissively obedient