to be officious

  • 1Officious — Of*fi cious, a. [L. officiosus: cf. F. officieux. See {Office}.] 1. Pertaining to, or being in accordance with, duty. [R.] [1913 Webster] If there were any lie in the case, it could be no more than an officious and venial one. Note on Gen. xxvii …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2officious intermeddler — of·fi·cious in·ter·med·dler /ə fi shəs ˌin tər med əl ər/ n: one who unnecessarily meddles in the affairs of another and then seeks restitution or compensation for the beneficial results but who is barred from receiving it Merriam Webster’s… …

    Law dictionary

  • 3officious — (adj.) 1560s, zealous, eager to serve, from L. officiosus dutiful, obliging, from officium duty, service (see OFFICE (Cf. office)). Sense of meddlesome, doing more than is asked or required had emerged by 1600 (in officiously). An officious lie… …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 4officious — index dictatorial, obtrusive Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 5officious — meddlesome, intrusive, obtrusive, impertinent Analogous words: meddling, interfering, intermeddling, tampering (see MEDDLE): annoying, vexing, irking, bothering (see ANNOY): pushing, assertive, *aggressive …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 6officious — [adj] self important, dictatorial busy, forward, impertinent, inquisitive, interfering, intrusive, meddlesome, meddling, obtrusive, opinionated, overzealous, pragmatic, pushy, rude; concept 404 Ant. modest, shy, timid …

    New thesaurus

  • 7officious — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ asserting authority or interfering in an overbearing way. DERIVATIVES officiously adverb officiousness noun …

    English terms dictionary

  • 8officious — [ə fish′əs] adj. [L officiosus < officium,OFFICE] 1. Obs. ready to serve; obliging 2. offering unnecessary and unwanted advice or services; meddlesome, esp. in a highhanded or overbearing way 3. in diplomacy, unofficial or informal officiously …

    English World dictionary

  • 9Officious bystander — The officious bystander is a metaphorical figure of English law, developed by MacKinnon LJ in Southern Foundries (1926) Ltd v Shirlaw[1] to assist in determining when a term should be implied into an agreement. While the officious bystander test… …

    Wikipedia

  • 10Officious — Wikipedia does not have an encyclopedia article for Officious (search results). You may want to read Wiktionary s entry on Officious instead.wiktionary:Special:Search/Officious …

    Wikipedia