heedful

English

Alternative forms

• heedfull (archaic)

Etymology

From heed +‎ -ful.

Adjective

heedful (comparative more heedful, superlative most heedful)

1. Taking heed.
2. Paying close attention; mindful.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

     Hamlet:
     […] It is a damned ghost that we have seen,
     And my imaginations are as foul
     As Vulcan's stithy. Give him heedful note;
     For I mine eyes will rivet to his face,
     And after we will both our judgments join
     In censure of his seeming.

   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Scribner, published 1902, page 295:

     As in decapitating the whale, the operator's instrument is brought close to the spot where an entrance is subsequently forced into the spermaceti magazine; he has, therefore, to be uncommonly heedful, lest a careless, untimely stroke should invade the sanctuary and wastingly let out its invaluable contents.

Antonyms

• heedless

Derived terms

• heedfully
• heedfulness
• unheedful

Translations

taking heed

• Bulgarian: внимателен (bg) (vnimatelen), загрижен (bg) (zagrižen)
• Greek: προσεκτικός (el) m (prosektikós)
• Māori: puakaha
• Scottish Gaelic: cùramach
• Spanish: atento (es)

mindful

• Bulgarian: внимателен (bg) (vnimatelen)
• Greek: προσεκτικός (el) m (prosektikós)
• Māori: puakaha
• Scottish Gaelic: cùramach