Englishofficious
adjective
an officious maître d' told him to wait at the bar:
self-important, bumptious, self-assertive, overbearing, overzealous, dictatorial, bossy, domineering, interfering, intrusive, meddlesome, meddling, importunate, forward, opinionated;
informal pushy;
archaic pragmatic, intermeddling;
rare obtrusive, busy.
▷antonyms self-effacing.
| easily confused words | officious or official? |
| One may well be unfortunate enough to encounter an officious person acting in an official capacity; but this is a matter of human nature and does not mean that the words have the same meaning. An officious person is excessively fond of asserting his or her authority, especially in relation to trivial matters (the local bureaucrats are an officious lot). Official, on the other hand, means ‘relating to the responsibilities and authority of public office’ (his official duties | the Prime Minister's official engagements) or ‘approved or issued by an authority’ (the official unemployment figures). | |
officious Oxford Dictionary of English