Careful

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈkɛɹfəl/

Definitions

1. Showing attention to detail and taking precautions to avoid mistakes, harm, or danger
2. Being cautious and attentive, one prioritizes vigilance to prevent accidents while ensuring tasks are carried out with accuracy and foresight
3. Exhibiting a mindset of caution and attentiveness, one actively avoids risks while ensuring that actions and decisions are made with precision and thoroughness

Etymology: "Careful" is about as transparent as English compounds get: it joins "care," from Old English "caru," meaning sorrow, grief or anxiety, with the suffix "-ful," which turns a noun into an adjective meaning "full of" or "characterized by." Its Old English form "carful" therefore meant something close to "full of sorrow" or "full of anxiety." The surprise lies in the modern sense. The anxious sense of the root gave way over the centuries to the idea of attentive watchfulness: a person full of concern for a task or a danger naturally takes pains over it. That shift from worry to deliberate attention is what turned a word of distress into a word of prudence, and it is why "careful" now praises the cautious rather than pities the troubled.

Synonyms: cautious, meticulous, prudent, attentive, watchful

Antonyms: careless, reckless, negligent, hasty, indifferent