vigilant
Americanadjective
-
keenly watchful to detect danger; wary.
a vigilant sentry.
- Antonyms:
- careless
-
ever awake and alert; sleeplessly watchful.
- Synonyms:
- sleepless, wide-awake
adjective
Usage
What does vigilant mean? To be vigilant is to be watchful or alert for danger or some other kind of trouble.Vigilant can describe a person or an action. It is often used when talking about keeping something out or in—whether that means keeping mistakes out of your work, robbers out of your home, or the dog inside the house.Example: We must be vigilant if we want to protect our home from invaders.
Related Words
See alert.
Other Word Forms
- hypervigilant adjective
- nonvigilant adjective
- nonvigilantly adverb
- nonvigilantness noun
- previgilant adjective
- previgilantly adverb
- supervigilant adjective
- supervigilantly adverb
- unvigilant adjective
- unvigilantly adverb
- vigilantly adverb
- vigilantness noun
Etymology
Origin of vigilant
First recorded in 1470–80; from Latin vigilant- (stem of vigilāns ), present participle of vigilāre “to be watchful”; vigil, -ant
Compare meaning
How does vigilant compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late shah, cautioned Iranians to stay vigilant in the face of air strikes and await the right moment to return to the streets.
From Barron's
If not, America and Israel will have to remain vigilant for years.
UK nationals in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Oman have been told by the Foreign Office to "remain vigilant" and take shelter if advised to do so.
From BBC
UK nationals in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Oman have been told to "remain vigilant" and take shelter if advised to do so.
From BBC
In her personal life, she’s vigilant about avoiding online data tracking and maintains a landline in her Bay Area home to avoid giving out her cell phone number.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
