从 industrious 的拼写不难猜到该词与熟词 industry （工业、行业）相关，这样又很容易将 industrious 误以为与 industrial （工业的、产业的；工业化的、工业发达的）同义。实际上， industrious 同 industry 一样，都是源自拉丁语industria（勤奋、活跃），16世纪50年代进入英语后，开始用作褒义词表示“勤奋的、勤劳的”以及“忙碌的、常年不闲的”，多指一种习惯性的或持续的非常认真的勤奋，常用来形容那些以专注于自己的事业、工作或业余爱好为特征的人，

比如：

She is not smart, but she is very industrious. That's why she has always excelled in foreign languages.她不聪明，但是她很用功。这就是为什么她的外语总是出类拔萃。

She was an industrious and willing worker, and she was always cheerful in adversity.她是个勤劳肯干的员工，且身处逆境时，她从不垂头丧气。

No man’s genius, however shining, can raise him from obscu­rity unless he has industry, opportunity and also a patron to recom­mend him.值得注意的是，想要以名词形式表达“勤劳、勤奋”时，则可以用 industry 表示，比如小站（微信公众号：田间小站）之前在小词详解 | patron中提到过的双语名言就有用到：

The Chinese nation is a great nation; it has been through hardships and adversity but remains indomitable. The Chinese people are a great people; they are industrious and brave; and they never pause in the pursuit of progress. The Communist Party of China is a great party; it has the courage to fight and the mettle to win.一个人不管有多么光辉的天才，假如没有勤奋和机会以及赞助人的推介，也会湮没无闻的。权威用例中华民族是历经磨难、不屈不挠的伟大民族，中国人民是勤劳勇敢、自强不息的伟大人民，中国共产党是敢于斗争、敢于胜利的伟大政党。

出自党的十九大报告（双语全文）

diligent: having or showing care and conscientiousness in one's work or duties assiduous: showing great care and perseverance sedulous: (of a person or action) showing dedication and diligence同近义词