conscientiously

conscientiously — adverb

1. doing something with serious care and effort because you believe it is your resp

1.adverbC1
Definition

doing something with serious care and effort because you believe it is your responsibility to do it correctly

Example

Yara conscientiously checked every door lock before leaving the office for the night.

adverb + checked every [noun] (thoroughness pattern)

Each returned book was conscientiously placed in its exact spot on the shelf.

passive: be + conscientiously + past participle

Common collocations
  • conscientiously + checked / recorded / reviewed / completed / practised
  • conscientiously done / prepared / made
Synonyms
  • diligently

    Emphasises steady, persistent effort rather than the moral responsibility aspect

  • thoroughly

    Focuses on completeness — every part is done — rather than the sense of duty

  • meticulously

    Adds extreme attention to tiny details; slightly more formal

  • carefully

    The most general term; does not carry the implication of moral duty or responsibility

Antonyms
  • carelessly

    Opposite of the care aspect — doing work without paying attention

  • negligently

    Opposite of the duty aspect — failing to take proper responsibility

Usage Note

Typically placed before an action verb (conscientiously checked, recorded, reviewed) or after a form of 'be' in passive structures (was done conscientiously). Natural with verbs describing work, study, or other tasks that involve responsibility; unnatural with routine physical actions or instinctive behaviour.

Common Mistakes

The cat conscientiously cleaned its paws.
The cat carefully cleaned its paws.
Conscientiously implies a sense of moral duty and effort, which sounds unnatural for instinctive animal behaviour.
She conscientiously ate her breakfast.
She ate her breakfast carefully.
Eating is a routine physical action, not a task typically associated with responsibility or thorough effort.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adverb/1

Carefully is the most general term — it simply means paying attention to avoid mistakes. Diligently adds the idea of steady, persistent effort over time. Thoroughly stresses completeness: every part is examined or done. Meticulously goes further, focusing on extreme attention to even the smallest details. Conscientiously combines careful effort with a sense of moral duty or responsibility: you do the work well because you believe it is the right thing to do, not merely to avoid errors. For example, a student reads the instructions carefully to avoid missing a step, but a student reads them conscientiously because they want to understand the material properly — learning itself matters to them.

carefully ↗diligentlythoroughly ↗meticulously ↗

Common collocations

Adverbs

  • always conscientiously
  • very conscientiously
  • most conscientiously

Phrases

  • conscientiously + action verb (checked, recorded, reviewed, completed, practised)
  • be + conscientiously + past participle

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Conscientiously comes from 'conscientious', which entered English from French 'consciencieux', based on Latin 'conscientia' meaning 'knowledge within oneself' or 'consciousness of right and wrong'. The Latin root 'con-' (with) + 'scire' (to know) originally described what a person knows in their own heart. Over time the word narrowed from 'conscious' to 'guided by one's sense of duty'. The adverb form simply adds the '-ly' ending to 'conscientious'.