careless Hear it!

careless definition

care·less (ker′lis)

adjective

  1. without worry; carefree; untroubled
  2. not paying enough attention; not thinking before one acts or speaks; neglectful; heedless; inconsiderate
  3. done or made without enough attention, precision, etc.; not painstaking or thorough
  4. artless; unstudied a careless grace

Etymology: ME careles < OE carleas: see care & -less

Related Forms:

careless Idioms

careless of

indifferent to; untroubled by

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

careless Synonyms

careless

modif.

  1. Inattentive

    loose, lax, remiss, unguarded, incautious, forgetful, unthinking, unobservant, uncircumspect, reckless, unheeding, indiscreet, injudicious, inadvertent, unconcerned, improvident, wasteful, regardless, imprudent, unconsidered, unwary, cursory, hasty, inconsiderate, irresponsible, indolent, insouciant, lackadaisical, heedless, mindless, negligent, neglectful, sloppy, slapdash, inaccurate, imprecise, inexact, slipshod, slovenly, thoughtless, unmindful, indifferent, casual, disregardful, oblivious, absent-minded, listless, abstracted, nonchalant, undiscerning, offhand, slack, blundering; see also rash, unconcerned.

    Antonyms attentive, thoughtful*, careful*, painstaking. *

  2. Artless

    unstudied, simple, natural; see modest 2, naive, natural 3.

  3. Carefree

    untroubled, fun-loving, happy-go-lucky; see calm 1, happy 1.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

careless Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • life: So careful of the type she seems, So careless of the single life.

Preposition: about

  • thing: All it showed was that some people in this business can be indiscreet and careless about the things they say.

Modifies a noun

  • driving: In 1951, 29,000 offenses of careless driving were dealt with, a third of the current level.

Modifying Another Word

  • rather: Cast of characters Gilbert Murray a rather careless veterinary surgeon who has dreams of opening his own animal sanctuary.

Used with adjective complement

  • become: In certain cases, they may also become careless of their personal hygiene.
careless usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

careless quotes

They were careless people,Tom and Daisyöthey smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.

-Fitzgerald, F(rancis) Scott Key

   The more careless, the more modish.

-Swift,Jonathan

So careful of the type she seems, So careless of the single life.

-Tennyson

careless quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Link to this page:

Cite this page:

MLA Style

"careless." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/careless>

APA Style

careless. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/careless

Comments:

Please or Register to post a comment