Dictionary

inofficious en · ADJ

Etymology

From Latin inofficiōsus. Compare French inofficieux. See in- (“not”) + officious.

Meanings

1. (obsolete) Indifferent to obligation or duty.
   • Vp thou tame River, vvake; / And from the liquid limbes this ſlumber ſhake: / Thou drovvn'st thy ſelfe in inofficious ſleepe; / And theſe thy ſluggiſh vvaters ſeeme to creepe, / Rather than flovv. 1604 March 25 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), B[en] Jon[son], “The Pegme at Fen-church”, in B. Jon: His Part of King James His Royall and Magnificent Entertainement through His Honorable Cittie of London, Thurseday the 15. of March. 1603. […], London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] [and George Eld] for Edward Blount, published 1604, →OCLC, signature B3, verso:
2. (obsolete) Not officious; not civil or attentive.
3. (obsolete) Contrary to one's natural obligation or duty, as of a testament by which a child is unjustly deprived of inheritance.
   • the inofficious testament 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:
   • an inofficious disposition of his fortune 1785, William Paley, The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy:

Forms

Deriveds

inofficiousness · inofficiously