Attentive

How to spell attentive

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce attentive

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does attentive mean?

1. adjectivePaying close attention to someone or something, often by noticing and meeting their needs.

Attentive in a sentence

• The new waiter was remarkably attentive throughout the meal.

• A good manager stays attentive to the concerns of every team member.

Where does attentive come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb attendere, which literally meant 'to stretch toward', formed from ad 'to, toward' and tendere 'to stretch'. The mental image is of a person stretching their mind or ears toward something in order to take it in, and that is precisely the idea preserved in the modern meaning of paying close heed. English took it through Old French in the late Middle Ages, with the adjective forming on the participial stem and the ending -ive marking the quality of doing the action. The very same tendere root still stretches through a whole family of English relatives, including 'tension', 'extend', 'intend', and of course the closely linked verb 'attend'. Because the Latin spelling kept the double 't' from the assimilation of ad- before tendere, the modern word holds onto its 'tt', which is the small spelling trap worth remembering.

How the word is built

• at- (from Latin ad-, toward)
• tent (from tendere, to stretch)
• -ive (adjective suffix)