How is the word ‘officious’ pronounced? What does it mean?
(J. Ramani, Trivandrum)
The ‘o’ in the first syllable is like the ‘a’ in ‘china’, and the following ‘ffic’ is pronounced like the word ‘fish’. The ‘iou’ is like the ‘a’ in ‘china’, and the final ‘s’ is like the ‘s’ in ‘sit’, ‘stand’, and ‘sip’. The word is pronounced ‘e-FISH-es’ with the stress on the second syllable. ‘Officious’ has nothing to do with the word ‘official’. When you say that someone is officious, what you mean is that the person is rather meddlesome. The individual pokes his nose in other people’s affairs; he is eager to offer advice. Such people are overly aggressive in their desire to help, and usually have a very high opinion of themselves. The word is mostly used to show disapproval.
It’s not surprising that the officious little man has no friends.
S. UPENDRAN
upendrankye@gmail.com
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