CARELESS


Meaning of CARELESS in English

care ‧ less /ˈkeələs $ ˈker-/ BrE AmE adjective

[ Word Family: noun : ↑ care , ↑ carer ; adjective : ↑ careful ≠ ↑ careless , ↑ caring ≠ UNCARING ; verb : ↑ care ; adverb : ↑ carefully ≠ ↑ carelessly ]

1 . not paying enough attention to what you are doing, so that you make mistakes, damage things etc OPP careful :

It was careless of him to leave the door unlocked.

a careless mistake

careless driving

careless with

He’s careless with his glasses and has lost three pairs.

Careless talk can be disastrous for a business.

2 . [usually before noun] natural and not done with any deliberate effort or attention:

He ran a hand through his hair with a careless gesture.

3 . not concerned about something

careless of

a man careless of his own safety

She gave a careless shrug.

HINT : ► Do not use ‘careless’ to mean that someone has no worries. Use carefree : They all felt happy and carefree.

—carelessly adverb

—carelessness noun [uncountable]

• • •

THESAURUS

▪ careless not paying enough attention to what you are doing, so that you make mistakes, damage things etc:

I made a few careless mistakes.

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It was careless of you to leave your purse lying about.

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He started getting careless about taking his medication.

▪ clumsy often dropping or breaking things because you move around in a careless way:

I’m so clumsy, I spilt milk all over the floor.

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a clumsy child

▪ sloppy careless and lazy in the way you do your work or in your behaviour generally:

As a student, he was brilliant but sloppy.

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I will not tolerate sloppy work.

▪ reckless especially written doing dangerous or stupid things without thinking about your own or other people’s safety:

The driver of the car was arrested for reckless driving.

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His actions showed a reckless disregard for human life.

▪ irresponsible careless in a way that might affect other people, especially when you should be taking care of them:

It’s irresponsible for parents to let their children smoke.

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his irresponsible attitude to keeping animals

▪ tactless carelessly saying something that upsets or embarrasses someone, without intending to do this:

He kept making tactless remarks about her appearance.

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a tactless question

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I thought it would be tactless to ask about her divorce.

▪ casual not being careful enough about something and treating it as though it is not important:

He seems to have a very casual attitude towards his work.

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She disliked the casual way in which he made decisions affecting other people’s lives.

▪ negligent careless about something that you are responsible for, so that serious mistakes are made – used especially when someone will be officially punished for this:

The doctor was negligent in using the wrong type of needle.

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They found him guilty of negligent conduct.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.