careful

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

carefull (obsolete)

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English careful, from Old English carful; equivalent to care +‎ -ful.

Pronunciation[edit]

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɛːfəl/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɛ(ə)ɹfəl/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɛː(ɹ)fəl, -ɛəɹfəl

Adjective[edit]

careful (comparative more careful or carefuller, superlative most careful or carefullest)

Taking care; attentive to potential danger, error or harm; cautious.
He was a slow and careful driver.

Be very careful while trekking through the jungle.
Conscientious and painstaking; meticulous.
- 2019, Li Huang; James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 7:
  At the same time, we were cognisant that careful scholars should never solely rely on their own impressionistic observations, and, that our own impressions were inexact and not capable of being quantified.
They made a careful search of the crime scene.
(obsolete) Full of care or grief; sorrowful, sad.
(obsolete) Full of cares or anxiety; worried, troubled.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
  Where through long watch, and late daies weary toile, / She soundly slept, and carefull thoughts did quite assoile.

Synonyms[edit]

See also Thesaurus:cautious
See also Thesaurus:meticulous

Antonyms[edit]

careless

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

cautious

Arabic: حَذِر‎ (ar) (ḥaḏir)
Belarusian: асцяро́жны (ascjaróžny), пі́льны (pílʹny), ува́жлівы (uvážlivy), акура́тны (akurátny)
Bengali: সতর্ক (bn) (śotork), সাবধান (bn) (śabodhan)
Bulgarian: грижли́в (bg) (grižlív), внима́телен (bg) (vnimátelen)
Catalan: cautelós, anar amb compte (to be careful)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 當心／当心 (zh) (dāngxīn), 小心 (zh) (xiǎoxīn)
Crimean Tatar: saqt ol, muqayt ol
Czech: opatrný (cs)
Danish: forsigtig
Dutch: voorzichtig (nl), behoedzaam (nl), omzichtig (nl), prudent (nl)
Esperanto: zorga, zorgema
Estonian: ettevaatlik, tähelepanelik
Faroese: varin, ansin, varur, hyggin, gáin
Finnish: varovainen (fi)
French: prudent (fr)
Galician: cauto
Georgian: ყურადღებიანი (q̇uradɣebiani)
German: vorsichtig (de), behutsam (de)
Greek: προσεκτικός (el) (prosektikós)
Ancient: ἐπιμελής (epimelḗs)
Gujarati: સાવધાન (sāvdhān)
Hebrew: זָהִיר‎ (zahír)
Hindi: सावधान (hi) (sāvdhān), सतर्क (hi) (satark)
Hungarian: óvatos (hu)
Indonesian: hati-hati (id)
Irish: aireach
Italian: prudente (it), cauto (it), fare attenzione
Japanese: 思慮深い (しりょぶかい, shiryobukai)
Korean: 조심하다 (ko) (josimhada), 신중하다 (ko) (sinjunghada)
Latin: curiosus, cautus (la)
Latvian: rūpīgs, uzmanīgs
Macedonian: внимателен (vnimatelen)
Malay: hati-hati (ms)
Marathi: सावध (sāvadh)
Neapolitan: accuorto
Norwegian:
Bokmål: forsiktig
Old English: carful
Polish: ostrożny (pl)
Portuguese: cauteloso (pt), cuidadoso (pt), prudente (pt), tomar cuidado (pt) (to be careful)
Persian: محتاط‎ (fa) (mohtât)
Romanian: precaut (ro), prudent (ro), atent (ro), îngrijit (ro), grijuliu (ro)
Russian: осторо́жный (ru) (ostoróžnyj), внима́тельный (ru) (vnimátelʹnyj) (attentive), аккура́тный (ru) (akkurátnyj)
Sanskrit: सावधान (sa) (sāvadhāna), सतर्क (sa) (satarka)
Scottish Gaelic: cùramach
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: о̏пре̄зан

Roman: ȍprēzan (sh)
Slovak: opatrný
Slovene: skrben (sl)
Spanish: cauto (es), cuidadoso (es), tener cuidado (to be careful)
Swedish: försiktig (sv)
Tagalog: maingat
Tocharian B: imassu
Turkish: dikkatli (tr)
Ukrainian: обере́жний (oberéžnyj), акура́тний (uk) (akurátnyj), ува́жний (uk) (uvážnyj)
Urdu: ساودھان‎ (sāvdhān), سترک‎ (satark)
Welsh: gofalus (cy)

meticulous

Arabic: دَقِيق‎ (ar) (daqīq)
Bulgarian: стара́телен (bg) (starátelen), акура́тен (bg) (akuráten)
Catalan: curós (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 過細／过细 (zh) (guòxì), 細緻／细致 (zh) (xìzhì), 仔細／仔细 (zh) (zǐxì)
Czech: pečlivý (cs)
Dutch: zorgvuldig (nl), grondig (nl), doortastend (nl)
Finnish: huolellinen (fi)
French: soigneux (fr), attentif (fr)
German: sorgfältig (de)
Greek: επιμελής (el) (epimelís)
Indonesian: teliti (id), cermat (id)
Ingrian: hoolekas
Irish: curamach
Italian: accurato (it), attento (it)
Japanese: 注意深い (ja) (ちゅういぶかい, chūibukai)
Korean: 주의 깊다 (juuigipda)
Latin: meticulosus, diligens
Latvian: rūpīgs, uzmanīgs
Norman: souongneux
Persian: دقیق‎ (fa) (daqiq)
Polish: drobiazgowy (pl)
Portuguese: cuidadoso (pt), meticuloso (pt)
Russian: тща́тельный (ru) (tščátelʹnyj), аккура́тный (ru) (akkurátnyj), стара́тельный (ru) (starátelʹnyj)
Scottish Gaelic: cùramach
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: брѝжљив, бри̏жан, по̀мњив

Roman: brìžljiv (sh), brȉžan (sh), pòmnjiv (sh)
Slovak: starostlivý
Spanish: cuidadoso (es)
Swedish: noggrann (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Catalan: ^{(please verify)} acurat
Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} zorgema

Anagrams[edit]

acreful