What does solicitously mean?
Solicitously is an adverb describing actions carried out with attentive, caring concern for another person's comfort, safety, or feelings. Someone who asks solicitously after a friend's health, or who solicitously adjusts a guest's chair, is showing thoughtfulness that goes beyond routine politeness. The word is generally positive, evoking warmth, tenderness, and a readiness to help, though it can carry a faintly ironic edge when the attention seems excessive, fussy, or put on for show. It belongs mostly to formal and literary English, and it is common in fiction, where authors use it to convey a character's manner economically, whether that character is a devoted nurse, an anxious parent, or a calculating courtier. It is the adverbial form of the adjective solicitous, and it shares its root with solicitude, the noun for such caring concern. Despite resembling the verb solicit, it has nothing to do with asking for money or business; its sense is about care, not request. Knowing the word gives a writer a precise, graceful way to describe attentive kindness.
adverbIn a manner that shows anxious or attentive concern for another person's comfort, health, or wellbeing; with careful, considerate attention.
- In a way that shows careful, attentive concern for someone's comfort, health, or wellbeing.
- Eagerly or earnestly, with anxious care to do something properly (less common, somewhat dated).
"She solicitously tucked the blanket around her grandfather's knees before opening the window just a crack."
"The nurse leaned over the bed and asked solicitously whether the patient needed another pillow."
"He solicitously held the door for the elderly couple, waiting until both were safely inside."
Though it sounds like a word for salesmen, 'solicitously' descends from a Latin root meaning 'wholly stirred up', which is why it describes someone whose worry for you is almost restless.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does solicitously come from?
Solicitously is formed from the adjective solicitous plus the adverbial suffix -ly. Solicitous comes from Latin sollicitus, meaning 'anxious, troubled, agitated', which is generally explained as a compound of sollus ('whole, entire') and citus, the past participle of ciere ('to move, stir, set in motion'). The English adjective is recorded from the 16th century, and the sense of anxious concern gradually shifted toward attentive care. The same Latin source gave solicit, solicitude, and related words.
Related word forms
How solicitously is actually used
Formal to literary in register. The tone is usually warm but can shade into excessive fussiness or even insincerity, depending on context; writers sometimes use it with mild irony to suggest hovering or overly eager attentiveness.
Easily confused with solicitously
Solicitous is the adjective describing a person who is concerned or attentive, while solicitously is the adverb describing how an action is performed.
Not to be confused with 'soliciting', which means asking for or seeking something such as money, votes, or business, without implying tender concern.