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CARELESS
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Effortless and unstudied
Example:
danced with careless grace
Classified under:
Similar:
artless (simple and natural; without cunning or deceit)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Marked by lack of attention or consideration or forethought or thoroughness; not careful
Example:
hurt by a careless remark
Classified under:
Similar:
casual; cursory; passing; perfunctory; superficial (hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough)
haphazard; slapdash; slipshod; sloppy (marked by great carelessness)
heedless; reckless (characterized by careless unconcern)
incautious (carelessly failing to exercise proper caution)
offhand; offhanded (casually thoughtless or inconsiderate)
Also:
inattentive (showing a lack of attention or care)
incautious (lacking in caution)
unconcerned (lacking in interest or care or feeling)
negligent (characterized by neglect and undue lack of concern)
superficial (concerned with or comprehending only what is apparent or obvious; not deep or penetrating emotionally or intellectually)
imprudent (not prudent or wise)
Attribute:
carefulness (the quality of being careful and painstaking)
Antonym:
careful (exercising caution or showing care or attention)
Derivation:
carelessness (failure to act with the prudence that a reasonable person would exercise under the same circumstances)
carelessness (the quality of not being careful or taking pains)
Sense 3
Meaning:
(usually followed by 'of') without due thought or consideration
Example:
crushing the blooms with regardless tread
Synonyms:
careless; regardless
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
heedless; unheeding (marked by or paying little heed or attention)
Derivation:
carelessness (the quality of not being careful or taking pains)
Context examples:
Though careless enough in most matters of eating, he loved good fruit—or if he did not, his friends and children did.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
So scrupulous for others, he continued, and yet so careless for herself!
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
God knows; I am careless; this is my true hour of death, and what is to follow concerns another than myself.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
His figure was erect and soldierly, and he rode his horse with the careless grace of a man whose life had been spent in the saddle.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
His eldest son was careless and extravagant, and had already given him much uneasiness; but his other children promised him nothing but good.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Edward had been staying several weeks in the house before he engaged much of Mrs. Dashwood's attention; for she was, at that time, in such affliction as rendered her careless of surrounding objects.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
Catherine, weak-spirited, irritable, and completely under Lydia's guidance, had been always affronted by their advice; and Lydia, self-willed and careless, would scarcely give them a hearing.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
I threw myself into the carriage that was to convey me away, hardly knowing whither I was going, and careless of what was passing around.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
And yet I wondered, in my heart, that he should show himself so careless.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
How do I know that you have been getting yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and careless servant girl?
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
