vigilant
Americanadjective
-
keenly watchful to detect danger; wary.
a vigilant sentry.
- Antonyms:
- careless
-
ever awake and alert; sleeplessly watchful.
- Synonyms:
- sleepless, wide-awake
adjective
Usage
What does vigilant mean? To be vigilant is to be watchful or alert for danger or some other kind of trouble.Vigilant can describe a person or an action. It is often used when talking about keeping something out or in—whether that means keeping mistakes out of your work, robbers out of your home, or the dog inside the house.Example: We must be vigilant if we want to protect our home from invaders.
Related Words
See alert.
Other Word Forms
- hypervigilant adjective
- nonvigilant adjective
- nonvigilantly adverb
- nonvigilantness noun
- previgilant adjective
- previgilantly adverb
- supervigilant adjective
- supervigilantly adverb
- unvigilant adjective
- unvigilantly adverb
- vigilantly adverb
- vigilantness noun
Etymology
Origin of vigilant
First recorded in 1470–80; from Latin vigilant- (stem of vigilāns ), present participle of vigilāre “to be watchful”; vigil, -ant
Compare meaning
How does vigilant compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“We have to be vigilant but there is no need to rush into action,” Schnabel said.
He urged security services to be "extra vigilant" and increase their presence at transport hubs and other locations across the country.
From BBC
“We have to be vigilant but there is no need to rush into action.”
“That also teaches us that some of the greatest moral figures can be deeply flawed and that we have to be forever vigilant and demanding.”
From Los Angeles Times
STOCKHOLM—Sweden’s central bank held its key policy rate at 1.75% but said it remains vigilant and ready to act if the Middle East conflict begins to impact inflation or the economic outlook.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
