Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use dutiful in a sentence

15 example sentences · adjective

Dutiful means accepting of one's legal or moral obligations and willing to do them well, and without complaint. Example: “Ralph was a dutiful child, and took the trash out without being told.”

Examples of dutiful by meaning

adjectiveAccepting of one's legal or moral obligations and willing to do them well, and without complaint.

  • Ralph was a dutiful child, and took the trash out without being told.

More sentences with dutiful

  • The duke's fiefdom had been greatly expanded as a reward for his dutiful military service on behalf of the king.From the entry fiefdom
  • Most state parties--Democrat or Republican--are sclerotic and dutiful, and little help to local candidates.2018, Mark Oppenheimer, “Politico”, in How to Turn a Red State Purple. From the entry sclerotic
  • If they're on a dutiful errand, for example delivering registers, the school probably encourages a responsible attitude.2014 September 23, A teacher, “Choosing a primary school: a teacher's guide for parents”, in The Guardian. From the entry slapdash
  • Both looked a little dry and dutiful, "Temple," danced to Mr.1992 January 30, Jennifer Dunning, “Review/Dance; Premiere Opens Season For Nikolais and Louis”, in The New York Times, archived from the…. From the entry dehumanizer
  • On the contrary, I was Edwardianly dutiful, and still “minded” what was said to me.1931, Gladys Cooper, Gladys Cooper, Hutchinson & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., page 62. From the entry Edwardianly
  • Rochelle is a perfectionistic, timid, dutiful girl, and she has been slaving away for hours on her math.1999, Elizabeth Berger, Raising Kids with Character: Developing Trust and Personal Integrity in Children, Rowman & Littlefield, published…. From the entry slave away
  • Leerhsen said in an interview that he wanted to write a book without the dutiful sheen of what he called “an official Bourdain product.”2022 September 27, Kim Severson, “The Last, Painful Days of Anthony Bourdain”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry sheen
  • His father is stoic and dutiful, and there is a haggardness around his eyes that lends him the air of a tortured poet.2019, Maaza Mengiste, The Shadow King, Canongate Books (2020), page 340. From the entry haggardness
  • In the Chinese border town of Hunchun, garment factories gladly employ squads of North Koreans, who are valued as skilled and dutiful workers.2018 June 5, Jane Perlez, Iris Zhao, Luz Ding, Su-Hyun Lee, “China’s Trade With North Korea Is Set to Soar With a Trump-Kim Deal”, in The…. From the entry Hunchun
  • A dutiful, almost accountantlike rendering by Lois Martin, violist; Chris Finckel, cellist; and Aleck Karis, pianist, did not make things any clearer.2007 December 12, Bernard Holland, “Sounds of the New, Arrayed to Enliven a Nordic Night”, in New York Times. From the entry accountantlike
  • She felt a surge of love for it, for its compact practicality, its orderly shippiness, its dutiful precision, its homely solid shelter against the storm.2003, Libby Purves, Casting Off, unnumbered page. From the entry shippiness
  • The dutiful cowlet gave a low.1932, Wyndham Lewis, Snooty Baronet, Haskell House Publishers Ltd., published 1971, page 201. From the entry cowlet
  • Speer thus had a rather “Puritanical upbringing,” a description appropriate for the style of a father committed to the spirituality of the Christian man as dutiful patriarch.2005, Charles H. Lippy, Do Real Men Pray?: Images of the Christian Man and Male Spirituality in White Protestant America, Knoxville…. From the entry puritanical
  • One necessary fashion item for the dutiful sans-culotte, for example, was the red cap (bonnet rouge), which was alleged to recall the cap worn in Antiquity by emancipated slaves.2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 454. From the entry sans-culotte

Meaning of dutiful

  1. adjective Accepting of one's legal or moral obligations and willing to do them well, and without complaint.
  2. adjective Pertaining to one's duty; demonstrative of one's sense of duty.

Full definition of dutiful

Questions about dutiful in a sentence

How do you use dutiful in a sentence?
Dutiful is used as an adjective. For example: “Ralph was a dutiful child, and took the trash out without being told.”
What is a short sentence with dutiful?
“The dutiful cowlet gave a low.”
What does dutiful mean?
Dutiful means accepting of one's legal or moral obligations and willing to do them well, and without complaint.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dutiful (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use dutiful in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/dutiful. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.