careless

English

Etymology

From Middle English careles, from Old English carlēas (“careless, reckless, void of care, free from care, free”), equivalent to care +‎ -less.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈkɛːlɘs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)ləs

Adjective

careless (comparative more careless, superlative most careless)

1. (archaic) Free from care; unworried, without anxiety. [from 11th c.]
   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick:

     Good-humored, easy, and careless, he presided over his whale-boat as if the most deadly encounter were but a dinner, and his crew all invited guests.

2. Not concerned or worried (about). [from 11th c.]
   • 1907, Robert Chambers, chapter 4, The Younger Set^[1]:

     Both Selwyn and Lansing cut in coolly, dismissing the matter with a careless word or two ; and coffee was served—cambric tea in Drina's case.

3. Not giving sufficient attention or thought, especially concerning the avoidance of harm or mistakes. [from 16th c.]

   Jessica was so careless that she put her shorts on backwards.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:careless

Translations

not concerned or worried

• Bulgarian: небрежен (bg) (nebrežen), немарлив (bg) (nemarliv)
• Czech: lehkomyslný (cs)
• Dutch: onverschillig (nl)
• Esperanto: malzorga (eo)
• German: sorglos (de), unbekümmert (de)
• Greek: ανέμελος (el) (anémelos) m , ξέγνοιαστος (el) (xégnoiastos) m 

• Hungarian: gondtalan (hu)
• Icelandic: áhyggjulaus (is), kátur (is) m
• Scottish Gaelic: coma (gd)
• Serbo-Croatian: bezbrižan (sh)
• Spanish: despreocupado (es)

not giving sufficient attention or thought

• Bulgarian: невнимателен (bg) (nevnimatelen), безгрижен (bg) (bezgrižen)
• Czech: lehkomyslný (cs), nedbalý (cs), lhostejný (cs)
• Dutch: onvoorzichtig (nl), onbedachtzaam (nl), achteloos (nl)
• Esperanto: malzorga (eo)
• French: négligent (fr) m, étourdi (fr) m
• German: unvorsichtig, unbedacht, unachtsam, leichtsinnig, fahrlässig (de)
• Greek: απρόσεκτος (el) (aprósektos) , απερίσκεπτος (el) (aperískeptos) m , αμελής (el) (amelís) m 

• Hungarian: figyelmetlen (hu), gondatlan (hu)
• Icelandic: kærulaus (is), hirðulaus (is)
• Latin: neglegēns (la)
• Scottish Gaelic: coma (gd)
• Serbo-Croatian: nȅmāran (sh), nèbrižan (sh)
• Spanish: descuidado (es), irresponsable (es), negligente (es)
• Thai: ซุ่มซ่าม (th), ประมาท (th), สะเพร่า (th)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Swahili: pumbaa

Anagrams

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