dutiful

Dutiful is an adjective that describes someone who performs duties or obligations faithfully and conscientiously. It implies a sense of duty guiding actions, often showing reliability, obedience, and dedication. The term is commonly used to describe family roles (dutiful son or daughter), employment behavior (dutiful employee), or civic responsibility (dutiful citizen). While generally positive, dutiful can carry a nuance of formal compliance or subservience if emphasis is on obligation rather than initiative.

The word derives from the noun duty, which traces to Old French duté and ultimately to Latin debitum, meaning something owed. The suffix -ful forms adjectives meaning "full of" or "characterized by." Dutiful has been used in English since early modern times.

In modern usage, dutiful is most often applied to people who perform their tasks reliably. The adverb dutifully and the noun dutifulness describe the manner or quality of this conduct: for example, "She completed the report dutifully," or "his dutifulness as a son." The term is widely understood across varieties of English, with similar connotations in British and American usage.

Related terms include conscientious, responsible, loyal, and obligation. See also duty and filial piety as broader concepts connected to the sense of obligation underlying dutiful behavior.