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Definition of careless adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

careless

adjective
 
/ˈkeələs/
 
/ˈkerləs/
Word Family
  • care noun verb
  • careful adjective (≠ careless)
  • carefully adverb (≠ carelessly)
  • caring adjective (≠ uncaring)
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  1. not giving enough attention and thought to what you are doing, so that you make mistakes
    • careless driving
    • a careless worker/driver
    • it is careless of somebody to do something It was careless of me to leave the door open.
    • it is careless to do something It would be careless to ignore the risks.
    • careless of somebody Losing my phone again was very careless of me.
    • careless with something He's very careless with money.
    • careless about something Don't be so careless about spelling.
    • careless about doing something People have become increasingly careless about revealing personal information online.
    opposite careful
    Extra Examples
    • She had begun to grow careless.
    • Try not to be so careless in the future.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • become
    • get
    adverb
    • extremely
    • rather
    • very
    preposition
    • about
    • of
    • with
    See full entry
  2. resulting from a lack of attention and thought
    • a careless mistake/error
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • become
    • get
    adverb
    • extremely
    • rather
    • very
    preposition
    • about
    • of
    • with
    See full entry
  3. careless of something (formal) not at all worried about something
    • He seemed careless of his own safety.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • become
    • get
    adverb
    • extremely
    • rather
    • very
    preposition
    • about
    • of
    • with
    See full entry
  4. not showing interest or effort synonym casual
    • She gave a careless shrug.
    • a careless laugh/smile
  5. Word OriginOld English carlēas ‘free from care’ (see care, -less).
See careless in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee careless in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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adjective
 
 
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