reck ‧ less /ˈrekləs/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: recceleas ]
not caring or worrying about the possible bad or dangerous results of your actions:
He was accused of causing death by reckless driving.
a reckless disregard for safety
He ran into the burning house with reckless abandon (=without caring about the danger) .
—recklessly adverb
—recklessness noun [uncountable]
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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.