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# The Good Oil Word of the Day
- URL: https://goodoil.news/the-good-oil-word-of-the-day-775/
- Published: 2026-10-01T17:15:41.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T17:15:40.000Z
- Author: David Theobald
- Tags: General, Word of the Day

The word for today is…

conscientious (adjective) -

1: exercising attentive care to avoid errors or omissions : concerned with doing something correctly : meticulous, careful  
2: governed by or conforming to the dictates of conscience : scrupulous

Source : [Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conscientious?ref=goodoil.news)

Etymology : According to American writer and editor H. L. Mencken, "Conscience is the inner voice which warns us someone may be looking." A person who is conscientious makes sure that if others are watching, they approve of what they see. This is true for someone who is “governed by their conscience” as the oldest sense of the word is defined—as in “a conscientious objector to the war”—but it is also true for the conscientious person paying close, careful attention to the task at hand. Conscientious came to English from French, centuries after Middle English had adopted conscience from Old French; both ultimately come from Latin scire, “to know.”

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