observant

adj, noun — 4 senses

observant

adjalso spelled Observant

US /əbˈzɝvənt/ · UK /əbˈzɜːvənt/

Etymology Borrowed from French observant.

1

Alert and paying close attention; watchful.

  • The observant police officer noticed that my tax disk was out-of-date.
2

Diligently attentive in observing a law, custom, duty or principle; regardful; mindful.

  • I was normally observant of the local parking restrictions.
  • We are told how observant Alexander was of his master Aristotle.1644, Kenelme [i.e., Kenelm] Digby, Two Treatises. In the One of which, the Nature of Bodies; in the Other, the Nature of Mans Soule; is Looked into: In Way of Discovery, of the Immortality of Reasonable Soules, Paris: […] Gilles Blaizot, →OCLC:
1 more example
  • They also profess Buddhism, but are not so observant of its customs, nor are there so many monasteries and Lamas to be met with as in the other part of Bhutan.1909, John Claude White, Sikhim and Bhutan, page 13:
3

Practicing a religion.

  • She is an observant Catholic who goes to church regularly.
Antonyms
inobservant, nonobservant, unobservant, unobserving
Derived terms
hyperobservant, nonobservant, unobservant
Related terms
inobservant

Observant

noun
1

A member of a Franciscan order that strictly observes the rules of St. Francis.

Synonyms
Observantine
Derived terms
Observantism, Observantist

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for observant and Observant.