careless

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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

Adjective

careless (comparative more careless, superlative most careless)

  1. Not concerned or worried (about).
    • 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.
    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, Stephen Fry, The Liar, London: Heinemann, →OCLC, page 49:
      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.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

not concerned or worried — see carefree
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