- 1 not giving enough attention and thought to what you are doing, so that you make mistakes It was careless of me to leave the door open. Don’t be so careless about/with spelling. a careless worker/driver opposite careful Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsbe, become, get, … adverbextremely, rather, very, … prepositionabout, of, with, … See full entry
- 2 resulting from a lack of attention and thought a careless mistake/error Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsbe, become, get, … adverbextremely, rather, very, … prepositionabout, of, with, … See full entry
- 3careless of something (formal) not at all worried about something He seemed careless of his own safety. Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsbe, become, get, … adverbextremely, rather, very, … prepositionabout, of, with, … See full entry
- 4not showing interest or effort synonym casual She gave a careless shrug. a careless laugh/smile Word OriginOld English carlēas ‘free from care’ (see care, -less).Word Familycare noun verbcareful adjective (≠careless)carefully adverb (≠carelessly)caring adjective (≠uncaring)Extra examples He’s very careless with money. She had begun to grow careless. She’s careless about her spelling. Try not to be so careless in the future. When performing his stunts he was careless of his own safety. a rather careless mistake Don’t be so careless about spelling. You’ve made rather a lot of careless mistakes in your work.
Check pronunciation: careless
