diligence

noun

ˈdi-lə-jən(t)s How to pronounce diligence (audio)
Definition of diligencenext
as in effort
attentive and persistent effort through the diligence and ingenuity of a single detective, the gang's ringleader was finally caught

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of diligence For trusted journalists, diligence meant spending more time with the community. — Danielle K. Brown, The Conversation, 20 Aug. 2026 How Build Reroutes the Development Model Rather than trying to turn every data center into a bespoke architectural museum, Build functions as an AI-native operating partner designed to automate the heavy desktop diligence that stalls projects. — Nia Bowers, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2026 A little diligence now can be the difference between a debt that quietly expires and one that follows you for years longer than the law actually allows. — Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026 For all its characteristic restraint and formal diligence, Killing Spree is a book that wants to make noise, to cut through the dead air with cries of grief and rage, undoing our own savage torpor. — Literary Hub, 6 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for diligence
Recent Examples of Synonyms for diligence
  1. effort
  2. assiduity
  3. persistence
  4. industry
  5. industriousness
  6. attentiveness
  7. attention
Noun
  • Clay did not respond to questions Friday about the status of efforts to recover the money or whether the department is considering legal action.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 5 Sep. 2026
  • State law bars judges from adding items to the ballot after Tuesday, a tight deadline that could scramble Hanaway’s efforts to overturn the ruling.
    — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of effort
Noun
  • While the Queen Mother was very fond of this Queen Victoria tiara and wore it with relative assiduity, her daughter only wore it once in public, on an official trip to Malta in November 2005.
    — Ana Serrano, Glamour, 7 Dec. 2025
  • These indestructible treasures have always been buried in matter, awaiting the invention of scanning electron microscopes and scientists with enough assiduity to spend decades on end peering into their atomic eyes.
    — Virginia Heffernan, WIRED, 21 Mar. 2023
Definition of assiduity
Noun
  • Security teams should prioritize execution paths where code can access secrets, create persistence or make system changes, then apply pre-execution controls that can stop or constrain artifacts when their behavior falls outside policy.
    — Ken Ammon, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Hoban says she’s learned that bringing the vintage toys back to life often requires patience, persistence and a little imagination.
    — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of persistence
Noun
  • That could give small nuclear systems access to decades of engineering investment from industries that manufacture at vastly greater scale.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 2 Sep. 2026
  • This is a historically fragmented industry, with different vendors for different kinds of services, such as firewall, threat detection, and identity.
    — Zev Fima, CNBC, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of industry
Noun
  • The Beehive State gets its nickname from the industriousness of its workers.
    — Scott Cohn, CNBC, 11 July 2026
  • The Big East will cast a wide net to find someone with a vision, and Ackerman-level resourcefulness and industriousness by next fall.
    — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 21 Apr. 2026
Definition of industriousness
Noun
  • The opening up to the friendship with Renata, the attentiveness with Luis, and not being set on killing Negan are monumental changes for her.
    — Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Thanks to the controller’s attentiveness, a possible mid-air collision may have been prevented, especially if the pilots operating the individual planes thought the controller was giving them the same flight instructions.
    — Natalia Senanayake, PEOPLE, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of attentiveness
Noun
  • Matt Bevin has for months claimed Johnson is unable to afford him a fair trial and is using the case to gain attention from the media.
    — Lucas Aulbach, Louisville Courier Journal, 4 Sep. 2026
  • That’s the part of the guarantee-game economy that deserves more attention now.
    — Jason Lloyd, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of attention

Browse Nearby Words

dilettantism
diligence
diligent
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Cite this Entry

“Diligence.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/diligence. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on diligence

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about diligence

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