WATCHFULNESS

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does watchfulness mean? 

• WATCHFULNESS (noun)
  The noun WATCHFULNESS has 2 senses:

1. the process of paying close and continuous attention

2. vigilant attentiveness

  Familiarity information: WATCHFULNESS used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WATCHFULNESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The process of paying close and continuous attention

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

alertness; vigilance; wakefulness; watchfulness

Context example:

vigilance is especially susceptible to fatigue

Hypernyms ("watchfulness" is a kind of...):

attention (the faculty or power of mental concentration)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "watchfulness"):

jealousy (zealous vigilance)

Derivation:

watchful (engaged in or accustomed to close observation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Vigilant attentiveness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

vigilance; watchfulness; weather eye

Context example:

he keeps a weather eye open for trouble

Hypernyms ("watchfulness" is a kind of...):

attentiveness (the trait of being observant and paying attention)

Derivation:

watchful (engaged in or accustomed to close observation)

 Context examples 

Condition of heightened watchfulness or preparation for action.

(Alert, NCI Thesaurus)

Her countenance, perhaps, might express some watchfulness; but the praise of the fine mind did not appear to excite a thought in her sister.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

And yet for all his watchfulness he was never depressed.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But if she DID, the letter was written and sent away with a privacy which eluded all her watchfulness to ascertain the fact.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

We had a merry game, not made the less merry by the Doctor's mistakes, of which he committed an innumerable quantity, in spite of the watchfulness of the butterflies, and to their great aggravation.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

They were hard as iron. And I observed, also, that his whole body had unconsciously drawn itself together, tense and alert; that muscles were softly crawling and shaping about the hips, along the back, and across the shoulders; that the arms were slightly lifted, their muscles contracting, the fingers crooking till the hands were like talons; and that even the eyes had changed expression and into them were coming watchfulness and measurement and a light none other than of battle.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

With such rivals for the notice of the fair as Mr. Wickham and the officers, Mr. Collins seemed to sink into insignificance; to the young ladies he certainly was nothing; but he had still at intervals a kind listener in Mrs. Phillips, and was by her watchfulness, most abundantly supplied with coffee and muffin.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

It deranged his best plan of domestic happiness, his best hope of keeping Sir Walter single by the watchfulness which a son-in-law's rights would have given.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Lodging as I did in Bond Street, there was hardly a day in which I did not catch a glimpse of one or other of you; and nothing but the most constant watchfulness on my side, a most invariably prevailing desire to keep out of your sight, could have separated us so long.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

My watchfulness has been effectual; and though I certainly should be a more interesting object to all my acquaintances were I distractedly in love with him, I cannot say that I regret my comparative insignificance.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)