✅ Diligent describes someone who accomplishes a task in a dedicated and persistent way. It can also suggest doing something thoroughly, with great attention to detail (a diligent student; The detective was particularly diligent).

✅ Assiduous describes someone who accomplishes a task through consistent effort and hard work. It can also describe something constant or incessant (an assiduous worker; assiduous rain).

✅ Assiduous and diligent have pretty similar meanings, with assiduous also meaning constant, while diligent does not.

✅ Assiduous is a less common and more formal word than diligent.

We’re sure you’ll be assiduous in checking out these synonyms.

✅ Refined describes someone or something that has classy or elegant sensibilities. It’s associated with ideas of good breeding and high status (The party was full of refined people with very refined tastes).

✅ Genteel suggests someone who is polite and elegant, often but not always indicating a kind of affectation or pretense (The actor had a reputation for being a bit too genteel).

✅ Genteel primarily describes your behavior and the way in which you interact with people, often suggesting pretentiousness, whereas refined primarily describes your tastes and feelings (He had a refined palate; She behaved in a delicate and genteel manner).

These synonyms will make your vocabulary more genteel!

✅ First refers to something that happens before something else, for the first time, or in preference to something else (Text me first before you leave).

✅ Initially refers to something that happened first, or happened at the start or beginning of something (He was concerned initially; She initially planned to open a book and coffee shop, but changed her mind).

✅ Initially often implies that something has since changed, while first does not (First she told me what she wanted to do; Initially we had our office in the garage).

✅ Add first to at, and you get the phrase at first, which can mean the same thing as initially.

Make a resolution to get a bigger vocabulary, starting with these synonyms for initially!