Adjacent Words

Cautious definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CAUTIOUS, a. Wary; watchful; careful to avoid evils; attentive to examine probable effects and consequences of measures, with a view to avoid danger or misfortune; prudent; circumspect.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: showing careful forethought; "reserved and cautious; never making swift decisions"; "a cautious driver" [ant: incautious]
2: avoiding excess; "a conservative estimate" [syn: cautious, conservative] n
1: people who are fearful and cautious; "whitewater rafting is not for the timid" [syn: timid, cautious] [ant: brave]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 1614 marked by or given to caution <cautious investors> <cautious optimism> • cautiously adverb • cautiousness noun Synonyms: cautious, circumspect, wary, chary mean prudently watchful and discreet in the face of danger or risk. cautious implies the exercise of forethought usually prompted by fear of danger <a cautious driver>. circumspect suggests less fear and stresses the surveying of all possible consequences before acting or deciding <circumspect in his business dealings>. wary emphasizes suspiciousness and alertness in watching for danger and cunning in escaping it <keeps a wary eye on the competition>. chary implies a cautious reluctance to give, act, or speak freely <chary of signing papers without having read them first>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. careful, prudent; attentive to safety. Derivatives: cautiously adv. cautiousness n. Etymology: ME f. OF f. L: see CAUTION

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cautious Cau"tious, a. [Cf. L. cautus, fr. caver. See Caution.] Attentive to examine probable effects and consequences of acts with a view to avoid danger or misfortune; prudent; circumspect; wary; watchful; as, a cautious general. Cautious feeling for another's pain. --Byron. Be swift to hear; but cautious of your tongue. --Watts. Syn: Wary; watchful; vigilant; prudent; circumspect; discreet; heedful; thoughtful; scrupulous; anxious; careful. Usage: Cautious, Wary, Circumspect. A man is cautious who realizes the constant possibility of danger; one may be wary, and yet bold and active; a man who is circumspect habitually examines things on every side in order to weigh and deliberate. It is necessary to be cautious at all times; to be wary in cases of extraordinary danger; to be circumspect in matters of peculiar delicacy and difficulty.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. Someone who is cautious acts very carefully in order to avoid possible danger. The scientists are cautious about using enzyme therapy on humans... He is a very cautious man. = careful ? rash ADJ: oft ADJ about n/-ing • cautiously David moved cautiously forward and looked over the edge... Cautiously, he moved himself into an upright position. ADV: usu ADV with v, also ADV adj 2. If you describe someone's attitude or reaction as cautious, you mean that it is limited or careful. He has been seen as a champion of a more cautious approach to economic reform. = circumspect ? rash ADJ • cautiously I am cautiously optimistic that a new government will be concerned and aware about the environment... Rebel sources have so far reacted cautiously to the threat. ? rashly ADV: usu ADV adj, also ADV with v

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Prudent, wary, careful, heedful, chary, circumspect, discreet, watchful, vigilant.

Moby Thesaurus

alert, ambling, attentive, cagey, calculating, canny, careful, chary, circumspect, claudicant, considerate, cozy, crawling, creeping, creeping like snail, curious, deliberate, demurring, diffident, discreet, disinclined to believe, disposed to doubt, easy, expedient, faltering, flagging, foot-dragging, foresighted, forethoughtful, gentle, gingerly, gradual, guarded, halting, hard of belief, heedful, hesitant, hesitating, hobbled, hobbling, idle, impervious to persuasion, inconvincible, incredulous, indolent, jibbing, judicious, languid, languorous, lazy, leaving out nothing, leery, leisurely, limping, loving, lumbering, mindful, moderate, noncommittal, on guard, overlooking no possibility, pawky, poking, poky, politic, precautious, provident, prudent, regardful, relaxed, reluctant, safe, sauntering, scheming, scrupling, shilly-shallying, shrewd, shuffling, shy of belief, skeptical, slack, slothful, slow, slow as death, slow as molasses, slow as slow, slow to act, slow-crawling, slow-foot, slow-going, slow-legged, slow-moving, slow-paced, slow-poky, slow-running, slow-sailing, slow-stepped, sluggish, snail-paced, snaillike, solicitous, staggering, sticking, stickling, straining, strolling, suspecting, suspicious, tender, tentative, thorough, thoughtful, timid, toddling, tortoiselike, tottering, trudging, turtlelike, unadventurous, uncommunicative, unconvincible, uncredulous, undaring, unenterprising, unhurried, unpersuadable, unpersuasible, unprecipitate, unwilling to accept, vigilant, waddling, wary, watchful