What does dutiful mean?
Word: Dutiful
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Dutiful means always ready to do what parents, teachers or others expect of you.
How do you spell dutiful?
Syllables: du - ti - ful
Tricky part: The y of the noun it comes from changes to i before the ending. Writing dutyful is the usual slip.
Watch out for: dutyful, dutieful
Memory tip: Y is a shy letter: it steps aside for an i when an ending comes along, as in happy and happiness.
Dutiful in a sentence
Example 1: The dutiful boy finished his chores before he went out to play.
Example 2: Asha is a dutiful student who hands in her homework on time.
Example 3: As a dutiful granddaughter, Meera reads the newspaper aloud to her grandfather every evening.
Fun Fact
In Shakespeare's play King Lear, the youngest daughter, Cordelia, is often described as the dutiful child, even though she refuses to flatter her father.
Practise the CREST Way
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
fitludu
a) dolphin
b) dustbin
c) daytime
d) dutiful
Show answer
d) dutiful. Two u's sit in the jumble, and no other option has them.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word:
dutiful
a) loyal
b) polite
c) obliging
d) disobedient
Show answer
d) disobedient. A dutiful child does as asked, and a disobedient one does not.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
d_tif_l
a) u, u
b) o, u
c) u, a
d) e, u
Show answer
a) u, u. The same vowel fills both gaps in this word.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The dutifull girl helped her mother carry the shopping.
a) shopping
b) mother
c) dutifull
d) girl
Show answer
c) dutifull. This ending has only one l, unlike the word full itself.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which act shows a child being dutiful?
a) forgetting to shut the garden gate
b) leaving chores for someone else
c) feeding the family's pet as promised
d) skipping class to go to the cinema
Show answer
c) feeding the family's pet as promised
2. The prefect was praised for being dutiful. What had she most likely done?
a) carried out every task she was given
b) told the funniest joke in assembly
c) won a prize in the painting contest
d) run faster than anyone in her class
Show answer
a) carried out every task she was given
