careless

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɛəlɪs/, /ˈkɛələs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɛɹləs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)ləs

Adjective

careless (comparative more careless, superlative most careless)

1. Not concerned or worried (about). [from 11^thc.]
   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IV, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326:

     "He was here," observed Drina composedly, "and father was angry with him."
     "What?" exclaimed Eileen. "When?"
     "This morning, before father went downtown."
     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.

2. Not giving sufficient attention or thought, especially concerning the avoidance of harm or mistakes. [from 16^thc.]
   • 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, London: Heinemann, OCLC 59891543, page 49:

     I don't find the pose of careless youth charming and engaging any more than you find the pose of careworn age fascinating and eccentric, I should imagine.

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

3. (archaic) Free from care; unworried, without anxiety. [from 11^thc.]
   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 27, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, OCLC 57395299:

     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.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:careless

Derived terms

• carelessly
• carelessness

Translations

not concerned or worried — see carefree

not giving sufficient attention or thought

• Afrikaans: sorgeloos (af)
• Albanian: i pakujdesshëm, i shkujdesur
• Arabic: غَيْر مُبَالِي‎ (ḡayr mubālī)
• Armenian: անուշադիր (hy) (anušadir), անփույթ (hy) (anpʿuytʿ)
• Aymara: maysarnukuta
• Azerbaijani: səhlənkar
• Bambara: hamibali
• Belarusian: нядбайны (njadbajny), неасцярожны (njeascjaróžny)
• Bengali: অসাবধান (osabodhan), যত্নহীন (yotnohīn)
• Bulgarian: невнима́телен (bg) (nevnimátelen), безгри́жен (bg) (bezgrížen)
• Burmese: သတိလက်လွတ် (sa.ti.laklwat)
• Catalan: imprudent, negligent (ca)
• Chichewa: wosasamala
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 轻率 (zh), 大意 (zh) (dàyì)

• Czech: lehkomyslný, nedbalý, lhostejný (cs), neopatrný
• Danish: skødesløs, uforsigtig, uagtsom, letsindig, lemfældig (da)
• Dhivehi: ފަރުވާކުޑަވުން‎ (faruvākuḍavun̊)
• Dutch: onvoorzichtig (nl), onbedachtzaam (nl), achteloos (nl), nalatig (nl), onachtzaam (nl)
• Esperanto: malzorga, senzorga, senatenta
• Estonian: hooletu, hoolimatuks
• Ewe: ɖematsɔleme
• Finnish: huolimaton (fi), huoleton (fi)
• French: négligent (fr), étourdi (fr), distrait (fr)
• Galician: descoidado, descoido
• Georgian: დაუდევარი (daudevari), დაუფიქრებელი (daupikrebeli), უგულისყურო (ugulisq̇uro), გაუფრთხილებელი (gauprtxilebeli), წინდაუხედავი (c̣indauxedavi), უყურადღებო (uq̇uradɣebo)
• German: unvorsichtig (de), unbedacht (de), unachtsam (de), leichtsinnig (de), fahrlässig (de), nachlässig (de), säumig (de)
• Greek: απρόσεκτος (el) (aprósektos), απερίσκεπτος (el) (aperískeptos), αμελής (el) (amelís)

  Ancient: ἀμελής (amelḗs)

• Guaraní: oñangareko'ỹva
• Gujarati: બેદરકાર (bedarkār)
• Haitian Creole: en neglijan
• Hebrew: רשלן‎ (rashlan)
• Hungarian: figyelmetlen (hu), gondatlan (hu), hanyag (hu), könnyelmű (hu)
• Icelandic: kærulaus (is), hirðulaus
• Indonesian: ceroboh (id)
• Irish: anaireach, neamartach, faillitheach
• Italian: inaccurato, negligente (it), negletto (it), superficiale (it), spensierato
• Japanese: 不注意 (ja) (fuchūi), 軽率 (ja) (keisotsu)
• Khmer: ធ្វេសប្រហែស (thveihprɑɑhaeh)
• Latin: neglegēns, indīligēns
• Maori: tīrere, pakihaha, tupehau, whakaarokore
• Northern Sotho: sa hlokomelego
• Old English: carleas, ġīemelēas
• Piedmontese: stordì
• Plautdietsch: schloff, schlopmetzich
• Polish: niedbały (pl)
• Portuguese: descuidado (pt), desatencioso (pt), negligente (pt)
• Romanian: nepăsător (ro), neglijent (ro)
• Russian: невнима́тельный (ru) (nevnimátelʹnyj), небре́жный (ru) (nebréžnyj), неради́вый (ru) (neradívyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: coma
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: nȅmāran (sh), nèbrižan (sh)

• Slovak: neopatrný, nepozorný, nedbanlivý
• Spanish: descuidado (es), irresponsable (es), negligente (es), dejado (es)
• Swedish: vårdslös (sv), oaktsam (sv), slarvig (sv), försumlig (sv)
• Tagalog: pabaya
• Telugu: శ్రద్ధలేని (te) (śraddhalēni)
• Thai: ซุ่มซ่าม (th) (sûm-sâam), ประมาท (th) (bprà-màat), สะเพร่า (th) (sàprâo)
• Turkish: ihmalci (tr), ihmalkâr (tr), umursamaz (tr)
• Ukrainian: недба́лий (nedbályj), неува́жний (neuvážnyj)
• Vietnamese: bất cẩn

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

• Swahili: ^{(please verify)} pumbaa

Anagrams

• acreless, raceless, rescales