What does conscientious mean?
Word: Conscientious
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Conscientious means careful to do your work or your duty well and thoroughly, because you want to do the right thing.
Synonyms: careful, thorough, hard-working
Antonyms: careless, negligent, lazy
How do you spell conscientious?
Syllables: con - sci - en - tious
Tricky part: The sh sound near the end is spelt ti, so the word ends -tious, as cautious does. Writing -cious, as in precious, is the usual slip.
Watch out for: consciencious, conscientous
Memory tip: A conscientious pupil pays attention, and attention spells its sh sound with ti as well. Link the two words and the ending stays right.
Conscientious in a sentence
Example 1: Mrs Iyer is a conscientious librarian who mends every torn book.
Example 2: Be conscientious about checking your answers before you hand in the paper.
Example 3: The most conscientious member of our team kept notes of every meeting.
Fun Fact
In psychology, one of the five big personality traits measures how conscientious a person is: how organised, dependable and self-disciplined they tend to be.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters to complete the word:
con_ci_ntious
a) s, i
b) c, e
c) s, a
d) s, e
Show answer
d) s, e. The middle is sci with an s before the c, and the e follows straight after the i.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word conscientious as used in the sentence:
Mr Rao is a conscientious teacher who corrects every notebook before the next lesson.
a) talkative
b) cheerful
c) diligent
d) generous
Show answer
c) diligent. Correcting every notebook on time shows steady, careful effort, and that is what diligent means.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. puntual 2. mischevous 3. obstinite 4. conscientious
a) fond of playing harmless tricks
b) refusing to change one's mind
c) putting real care into one's duties
d) arriving or doing things on time
Show answer
c) putting real care into one's duties. Mischievous has ie after the ch, punctual keeps the c before the t, and obstinate ends in -ate.
Mingle-Mangle
Unscramble the jumbled word in the sentence and choose the correct word:
Our class monitor is so osceunitcsnio that she checks the attendance register twice every morning.
a) ostentatious
b) contentious
c) conscientious
d) conspicuous
Show answer
c) conscientious. Contentious has a single c, ostentatious needs an a, and conspicuous needs a p.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which person is being conscientious?
a) a cook who forgets to add salt
b) a painter who skips the corners
c) a clerk who loses the office files
d) a nurse who double-checks every dose
Show answer
d) a nurse who double-checks every dose
2. The opposite of a conscientious worker is a ____ one.
a) polite
b) slapdash
c) modest
d) curious
Show answer
b) slapdash
