industrious
adjective C2
Plain meaning
hard-working and productive
Exam-register meaning
In formal or high-level texts, it is used to describe hard-working and productive, often with a precise or specialised tone.
In context
naturalHis response sounded industrious, so the conversation became difficult.
examThe passage presents a industrious assessment of the policy’s wider consequences.
Common collocations
a industrious responseindustrious behavioura industrious situation
Watch out
Do not use “very industrious” automatically; some advanced adjectives already carry a strong meaning or need a more natural intensifier.
Word family
industriousness (noun, where natural)industriously (adverb, where natural)