ˈ ̷ ̷fəl, -R also ˈkaf- adjective
( sometimes carefuller -f(ə)lə(r) ; sometimes carefullest -f(ə)lə̇st)
Etymology: Middle English, fromOld English carful, cearful, from caru, cearu care + ful or full full — more at care , full
1. archaic
a. : full of care : solicitous , troubled
be careful for nothing — Phil 4:6(Authorized Version)
b. : filling with care or solicitude : causing or exposing to concern, anxiety, or trouble
by Him that raised me to this careful height — Shakespeare
2. : exercising thoughtful supervision or making solicitous provision : taking good care — usually used with for or of
careful of a child's welfare
3. : marked by care: as
a. : marked by attentive concern and solicitude
a sad accident! He will need very careful watching — Bram Stoker
b. : marked by wary caution or prudence
be very careful of the moving blades
the perpetual fear which prompts careful stepping — Herbert Spencer
c. : marked by painstaking effort to avoid errors or omissions
a careful , sober, and accurate description of the events
careful of detail, laborious, methodical — J.R.Green
— often used with of or with an infinitive
careful of money
careful to adjust the machine
Synonyms:
meticulous , punctilious , scrupulous , punctual : careful indicates a varying blend of attentiveness and caution
Oh, I intend being very careful — Jack London
have given the matter very careful attention — J.P.Marquand
a careful search conducted by three young ladies and the postmaster in question — Dorothy Sayers
meticulous describes extreme attentiveness to detail or timorous caution about minutiae
the meticulous care with which the operation in Sicily was planned has paid dividends. For our casualties … have been low — F.D.Roosevelt
McKinley … was too polite, too meticulous in his observation of the formalities of the political Sanhedrin — W.A.White
punctilious describes extreme attention to fine points
lecture scripts, every one of them marked with punctilious care for emphasis, accent, and pause — A.T.Quiller-Couch
the punctilious honor of the Spanish gentleman — George Santayana
scrupulous describes painstaking attention to the proper and fitting, the fair and ethical, or the exact and true
it's simply that I owe my city the most scrupulous performance of duty in safeguarding it from disease — Sinclair Lewis
more zealous about the triumph of their righteous cause than scrupulous about the justice of their arguments — M.R.Cohen
Once a synonym of punctilious , punctual now stresses fidelity to agreed-on times, as for appointments or payments
I made Mr. Middleditch punctual before he died, though when he married me he was known far and wide as a man who could not be up to time — Compton Mackenzie