Solicitude Meaning
/səˈlɪsɪˌt(j)uːd/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe state of being solicitous; uneasiness of mind occasioned by fear of evil or desire for good; anxiety.
nounSpecial or pronounced concern or attention.
Sentence Examples
He showed a lot of solicitude for the health of his old dog.
Solicitude is the state of being concerned about another person.
She showed great solicitude for her sick grandmother's health.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The nurse showed great ____ for her patients, always asking if they needed anything.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Her genuine ____ for her sick neighbor's well-being was very much appreciated by the whole family.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English solicitude, from Old French sollicitude, from Latin sollicitūdō (“anxiety”), from sollicitus, solicitus (“anxious, solicitous”). See solicitous.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The familiarity of Sydney Smith’s manner does not consist merely in his style ; indeed, the terseness and brilliancy of his diction, though not at all artificial in appearance, could not have been attained without labor and solicitude ;—but it is the result of the blunt, fearless, severe, yet good-humored, nature of the man."
— 1848, Edwin Percy Whipple, “Sydney Smith”, in Essays and Reviews, volume I, New-York: D. Appleton & Company, page 135:
"Also the triuialle of the vertues theologicalle and quadriuialle of the cardinalle vertues, to comprehende the knowlege of whom oure insufficience sufficethe not, withowte the sollicitude of writers scholde transfude to vs the memory of thynges of antiquite."
— 1387, Ranulf Higden, anonymous translator, Polychronicon, translation of original in Medieval Latin, lib. I, page 5:
"Will any fair man say that I do not in this paragraph inculcate the duty of love and reverence for his Majesty, by stating, not merely my own ideas of his royal virtues, of his wisdom, and paternal solicitude for the happiness of his people, but the opinion and feeling of the illustrious personage, the highest subject in his empire -- the most interested next to himself in its welfare -- and whose example of reverence and devotion was so well calculated to inspire confidence and attachment in every class of the community?"
— 1810, Cobbett's Political Register - Volume 17, page 379:
"For there to be genuine community among any sizable group of people, solicitude must be a routine feature of daily intercourse."
— 1995, John Kultgen, Autonomy and Intervention: Parentalism in the Caring Life, →ISBN, page 30:
"The increasing solicitude for human life that characterizes administrative government is limited to people who are perceived as members or citizens of the polity, for reasons that will be discussed at length in Chapter 6."
— 2015, Edward L. Rubin, Soul, Self, and Society: The New Morality and the Modern State, →ISBN:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The nurse showed great ____ for her patients, always asking if they needed anything.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Her genuine ____ for her sick neighbor's well-being was very much appreciated by the whole family.