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Definition of officious adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

officious

adjective
 
/əˈfɪʃəs/
 
/əˈfɪʃəs/
(disapproving)
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  1. too ready to tell people what to do or to use the power you have to give orders synonym self-important
    • an officious traffic warden
    Word Originlate 15th cent.: from Latin officiosus ‘obliging’, from officium ‘performance of a task’ (in medieval Latin also ‘office, divine service’), based on opus ‘work’ + facere ‘do’. The original sense was ‘performing its function, effective’, which led to the meaning ‘ready to help or please’ (mid 16th cent.), which later became pejorative (late 16th cent.).
See officious in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
trait
noun
 
 
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