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Definition of "observant" []

  • Quick to perceive or apprehend; alert: an observant traveler. See Synonyms at careful. (adjective)
  • Diligent in observing a law, custom, duty, or principle: observant of the speed limit. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "observant" in a sentence
  • "I realize I am courting scorn by using the term observant but it works for me."
  • "The settlers were young couples raised in observant Jewish homes."
  • "As I say, I have no qualifications to determine whether someone can really be called a Catholic novelist, but speaking as an Orthodox Jew—for whom the word observant means “practicing,” by the way—whether a writer is observant is irrelevant to determining whether he is a Jewish writer."