Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Showing great attention or concern to another.
  • adjective Expressing care or concern for another: synonym: thoughtful.
  • adjective Showing great care; careful or meticulous.
  • adjective Worried; anxious.
  • adjective Archaic Full of desire; eager.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Anxious; concerned; apprehensive; eager, whether to obtain something desirable or to avoid something evil; very desirous; greatly concerned; disturbed; uneasy: as, a solicitous temper or temperament: generally followed by an infinitive, or by about, concerning, or for (less frequently of) before the object of anxiety or concern.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Disposed to solicit; eager to obtain something desirable, or to avoid anything evil; concerned; anxious; careful.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Disposed to solicit; eager to obtain something desirable, or to avoid anything evil; concerned; anxious; careful.
  • adjective Anxious or concerned (usually followed by about, for, etc., or a clause): solicitous about a person's health.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective full of anxiety and concern
  • adjective showing hovering attentiveness

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin sollicitus : sollus, entire; see sol- in Indo-European roots + citus, past participle of ciēre, to set in motion; see keiə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin sōlicitus, alternative spelling of sollicitus ("thoroughly disturbed; anxious"). See solicit.

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Examples

  • Dick, many years before, because of a certain solicitous contraction of her delicate brows that made her appear as if ever on the verge of saying, “Oh dear!”

    CHAPTER IX 2010

  • This was Paula’s maid, Oh Dear, so named by Dick, many years before, because of a certain solicitous contraction of her delicate brows that made her appear as if ever on the verge of saying, “Oh dear!”

    The Little Lady of the Big House, by Jack London 1916

  • The suggestion was described to WND by spokeswoman Margaret Calhoun Hemenway, a veteran Washington appointee and now volunteer spokeswoman, as being presented in a "solicitous" manner.

    RenewAmerica WorldNetDaily 2010

  • The suggestion was described to WND by spokeswoman Margaret Calhoun Hemenway, a veteran Washington appointee and now volunteer spokeswoman, as being presented in a "solicitous" manner.

    Latest Articles WorldNetDaily 2010

  • I actually felt relieved, but I let him be as solicitous as he wanted.

    Olivia V.C.Andrews 2011

  • They were all overly solicitous, each offering to do something, but I shooed them off, telling them to return to their duties as I headed for my office.

    Olivia V.C.Andrews 2011

  • They are a double act, too: solicitous of one another and given to the affectionate "we".

    Being Duckworth-Lewis: cricket's weather-break mathematicians 2011

  • Walter listened disbelievingly as O, affecting his familiar attitude of solicitous older brother, encouraged him to see the bright side in the bewildering estrangement proposed.

    O: A Presidential Novel Anonymous 2011

  • The SEC has yet to issue a ruling, though it's disconcerting to note that SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro has been notably solicitous of unions in her two-year tenure.

    Raise My Company's Taxes 2011

  • In response to mounting complaints at the Prince George's school, someone in Human Resources issued an edict: aggrieved employees could simply remove the solicitous white cards.

    Prince George's faculty unhappy with customer-service badges Daniel de Vise 2011

Comments

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  • Stepan Arkadyevitch, like all unfaithful husbands indeed, was very solicitous for his wife's comfort, and he had himself looked over the house, and given instructions about everything that he considered necessary.

    September 13, 2007

  • Used for 10 MAR 11

    March 11, 2011

  • Anxious or concerned: a solicitous parent.

    adj. Expressing care or concern: made solicitous inquiries about our family. See Synonyms at thoughtful.

    adj. Full of desire; eager.

    adj. Marked by or given to anxious care and often hovering attentiveness.

    adj. Extremely careful; meticulous: solicitous in matters of behavi

    August 25, 2013