assiduous

/əˈsɪdjuːəs/

//əˈsɪdjuːəs// adj

"assiduous" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“assiduous” is an uncommon English word, ranked #79,273 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.

#79,273
frequency rank, English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Hard-working, diligent or regular (in attendance or work); industrious.

Key facts for assiduous
PropertyValue
Headwordassiduous
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/əˈsɪdjuːəs/
Letters9
Frequency rank#79,273
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “assiduous” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). assiduous lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for assiduous is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈsɪdjuːəs/. Corpus data places it at rank #79,273 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Hard-working, diligent or regular (in attendance or work); industrious.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for assiduous, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: A learned borrowing from Latin assiduus, from assidere (“to sit down to”), from ad- (“to”) + sedere (“to sit”). Compare sedulous. Cognate (via assidere) to assess. The correct English form is assiduous, spelled A-S-S-I-D-U-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Hard-working, diligent or regular (in attendance or work); industrious.

Etymology

A learned borrowing from Latin assiduus, from assidere (“to sit down to”), from ad- (“to”) + sedere (“to sit”). Compare sedulous. Cognate (via assidere) to assess.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "assiduous"?
"assiduous" is spelled A-S-S-I-D-U-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈsɪdjuːəs/.
What does "assiduous" mean?
As an adjective, "assiduous" means: Hard-working, diligent or regular (in attendance or work); industrious.
How do you pronounce "assiduous"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "assiduous" is /əˈsɪdjuːəs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "assiduous"?
A learned borrowing from Latin assiduus, from assidere (“to sit down to”), from ad- (“to”) + sedere (“to sit”). Compare sedulous. Cognate (via assidere) to assess. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “assiduous”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is A-S-S-I-D-U-O-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /əˈsɪdjuːəs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list