Antonyms for cautious
ˈkɔ ʃəscau·tious

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:3.7 / 3 votes

1. cautiousadjective

   Antonyms:
   careless, neglecting

2. cautiousadjective

   He took a few cautious steps out the door.

   Antonyms:
   neglecting, careless

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. cautious

   Vigilant implies more sustained activity and more intelligent volition than alert; one may be habitually alert by reason of native quickness of perception and thought, or one may be momentarily alert under some excitement or expectancy; one who is vigilant is so with thoughtful purpose. One is vigilant against danger or harm; he may be alert or watchful for good as well as against evil; he is wary in view of suspected stratagem, trickery, or treachery. A person may be wakeful because of some merely physical excitement or excitability, as through insomnia; yet he may be utterly careless and negligent in his wakefulness, the reverse of watchful; a person who is truly watchful must keep himself wakeful while on watch, in which case wakeful has something of mental quality. Watchful, from the Saxon, and vigilant, from the Latin, are almost exact equivalents; but vigilant has somewhat more of sharp definiteness and somewhat more suggestion of volition; one may be habitually watchful; one is vigilant of set purpose and for direct cause, as in the presence of an enemy. Compare ALERT.

   Antonyms:
   careless, drowsy, dull, heedless, inattentive, incautious, inconsiderate, neglectful, negligent, oblivious, thoughtless, unwary

   Synonyms:
   alert, awake, careful, circumspect, on the alert, on the lookout, sleepless, vigilant, wakeful, wary, watchful, wide-awake

Princeton's WordNetRate these antonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. timid, cautiousadjective

   people who are fearful and cautious

   "whitewater rafting is not for the timid"

   Antonyms:
   tearaway(a), immoderate, madcap, hotheaded, incautious, impetuous, impulsive, brainish

   Synonyms:
   timid

2. cautiousadjective

   showing careful forethought

   "reserved and cautious; never making swift decisions"; "a cautious driver"

   Antonyms:
   incautious, impetuous, madcap, brainish, impulsive, tearaway(a), hotheaded, immoderate

   Synonyms:
   conservative

3. cautious, conservativeadjective

   avoiding excess

   "a conservative estimate"

   Antonyms:
   impetuous, hotheaded, incautious, immoderate, brainish, madcap, tearaway(a), impulsive

   Synonyms:
   bourgeois, materialistic, button-down, buttoned-down, conservative

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. cautiousadjective

   Antonyms:
   incautious, unwary

   Synonyms:
   circumspect, prudent, wary

How to use cautious in a sentence?

1. Ambassador Robert King:

   There are some indications that suggest that the sanctions are creating some difficult conditions for imports, there are already indications that companies and banks and so forth that deal with North Korea are being much more cautious even though the sanctions haven't fully been implemented.

2. Lee Rainie:

   There are ways in which people are cautious, but they can envision ways where these technologies can be rolled out into the culture with some boundaries and restrictions placed on them.

3. Chief Executive Michael O'Leary:

   We have to be cautious about the impact of declining air fares ... and the recent rises in oil prices and what that might mean for profitability out into 2018.

4. Galileo Galilei, The Assayer:

   Long experience has taught me this about the status of mankind with regard to matters requiring thought: the less people know and understand about them, the more positively they attempt to argue concerning them, while on the other hand to know and understand a multitude of things renders men cautious in passing judgement upon anything new.

5. Kyle Tisdel:

   Releasing it on Black Friday after Thanksgiving on one of the slower news cycles of the year is emblematic of what the report said and did, it's certainly a complicated mix of factors but ultimately the result is a tremendously cautious and tepid approach on these issues, and an approach that doesn't follow through on campaign promises that were made.

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