Official vs. Officious

[Haihao]

Hi,

I would think 'official' and 'officious' are both originated from 'office'. The interesting thing is 'officious' means 'unofficial'. Just a trifle but would anyone give a concern to them? :)

Haihao

[Torsten]

Hi Haihao, I think the adjective 'officious' has other meanings in addition to 'unofficial'. Here are some examples:

This was an ambitious, complex production, and, thanks to a particularly officious fire officer, it teetered on the brink of disaster.

The contrast between being in the lady's charitable care and now in the officious hands of the workhouse staff is an important dynamic.

Bureaucracy may strike an ordinary citizen as an undifferentiated monolith whose personnel are distant and officious, whose workings are baffling, whose idiom of discourse is unintelligible (perhaps even in another language), personified as a ‘them’, wholly external to the actor's everyday social reality.

TOEFL listening lectures: A lecture from a social science class

[Expatcat]

[Haihao]

Hi Torsten,

Thank you so very much for the comment. It made me so clear about those words!

Respectfully,

Haihao

[Haihao]

Hi Expatcat,

I am sorry for the ambiguity or incorrect expression. I should have written like: 'officious' could mean 'unofficial'.

Thanks for pointing out that.

Haihao