ˈkȯshəs adjective
Etymology: cauti on (I) + -ous
: marked by caution, by careful prudence in reducing risk or danger, and by reluctance to proceed or advance rashly
cautious in all his movements, always acting as if surrounded by invisible spies — W.H.Hudson †1922
too cautious and too conservative to seek any revolutionary end — V.L.Parrington
Synonyms:
circumspect , wary , chary , calculating : cautious may suggest limited objectives, prudence and forethought in proceeding, and fear of failure, danger, or harm
meek, humble, and timid persons …, who are cautious, prudent, and submissive, leave things very much as they find them — A.C.Benson
we were cautious in keeping to windward of them, their sense of smell and hearing being … extremely acute — Herman Melville
cautious, deliberate, methodical, he was in no danger, she felt, of plunging precipitately into marriage — Ellen Glasgow
Without connoting fear, as cautious does, circumspect stresses prudence, discretion, vigilance, and consideration of consequences
the packages were examined by the police and found to contain bombs … for the next few days people in high station were very circumspect about undoing brown paper packages — F.L.Allen
they do not live very happy lives, for they even more than the others are restricted in their movements, and they must live the most circumspect of lives — John Steinbeck
wary implies suspicious alertness to danger, difficulty, or loss, and cunning in escaping or evading it
a wary old rabbit stealing out at dawn with quivering nose and oscillating ears — Kenneth Roberts
we must always be wary of those who with sounding brass and tinkling cymbal preach the ‘ism’ of appeasement — F.D.Roosevelt
girls like her …, wild and lost and lonely, full of distrust, letting him approach with a wary look in their eyes as if they would dash away before he could touch them — Katherine A. Porter
chary stresses hesitancy, reserve, and discretion in proceeding
the high priests were chary of adding tumult to tumult, and they did not dare to take action against Reb Jacob — Maurice Samuel
contempt for the chattering fool runs through the Edda. Let a man be chary of speech — H.O.Taylor
my business experience has taught me to be chary of committing anything of a confidential nature to any more concrete medium than speech — William Faulkner
calculating stresses very deliberate and careful planning
Aunt Ella, ostensibly meek, confused, helpless, and self-effacing, has actually a steel core of calculating purposiveness and a genius for devious expedients; under the appearance of tender sisterly devotion she fights by methods of sly sabotage a lifelong duel — Wilson Follett
Sometimes this word connotes not care and caution but a cold-blooded objectivity approaching disdain of and even cruelty to others
that selfish and calculating principle has taken … the form of a national and racial egoism that has turned a continent into a shambles — J.L.Lowes