careless

adj

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵeh₂r-der. Proto-Germanic *karō Proto-West Germanic *karu Old English caru Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-der. Proto-Germanic *leusaną Proto-Germanic *lausaz Proto-Germanic *-lausaz Proto-West Germanic *-laus Old English -lēas Old English carlēas Middle English careles English careless 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”).

1. Not concerned or worried (about).

   “"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.”

   “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.”

3. Free from care; unworried, without anxiety.

   “Jessica was careless about putting her shorts on properly.”

   “Good-humored, easy, and careless, he presided over his whale-boat as if the most deadly encounter were but a dinner, and his crew all invited guests.”