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): /kɛɹ.ləs/, /kɛɚ.ləs/

  • Audio (General American):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /keː.ləs/
• (New Zealand, cheer–chair merger) IPA^(key): /kiə.ləs/
• (New Zealand, without the cheer–chair merger) IPA^(key): /keə.ləs/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /keɹ.ləs/
• (Lancashire, fair–fur merger) IPA^(key): /kɜː(ɹ).ləs/
• 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:

     "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.]

   Synonyms: negligent, reckless; see also Thesaurus:careless

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

   • 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 132:

     These ballads, none of which are later than the fifteenth century, are written in a strain of the most artless simplicity, not the slightest attempt at ornament is to be discerned in them; the same ideas and expressions continually recur, and the rimes are the most careless imaginable, often a mere assonnance in vowels or consonants, sometimes not possessing even that slight similarity of sound.

   • 1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 35:

     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.

3. (archaic) Free from care; unworried, without anxiety. [from 11^thc.]

   Synonyms: laid-back, unconcerned; see also Thesaurus:carefree

   Jessica was careless about putting her shorts on properly.

   • 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:

     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.

Derived terms

• beastly careless
• carelessly
• carelessness
• overcareless

Translations

not concerned or worried — see carefree

not giving sufficient attention or thought

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

  Mandarin: 轻率 (zh) (qīngshuài), 大意 (zh) (dàyì)

• Czech: lehkomyslný (cs), 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), leichtfertig (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)
• Hindi: असावधान (hi) (asāvdhān)
• 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 (it)
• Japanese: 不注意 (ja) (ふちゅうい, fuchūi), 軽率 (ja) (けいそつ, keisotsu), 迂闊 (ja) (うかつ, ukatsu)
• Khmer: ធ្វេសប្រហែស (thveihprɑɑhaeh)
• Latin: neglegēns, indīligēns
• Maori: tīrere, pakihaha, tupehau, whakaarokore
• Northern Sotho: sa hlokomelego
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: skjødesløs, uforsiktig, ubetenksom, uaktsom (no), uoverveid, tankeløs, lettsindig, lemfeldig, slurvete

• 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), poco / no cuidadoso, desprolijo (es), desatentado (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 (vi)
• Welsh: anofalus, diofal (cy)

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