cautious
Noun · AdjectiveOpen English WordNet
Adjective (2)
- showing careful forethought“reserved and cautious; never making swift decisions”“a cautious driver”Opposite incautiousSimilar gingerly, guarded, cagey, fabian, overcautiousSee also unadventurous, careful
- avoiding excess“a conservative estimate”Synonyms: conservativeOpposite immoderateSimilar moderate
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Adjective careful, wary
- Spanish
- cauto
- French
- prudent
- German
- vorsichtig
- Italian
- cauto
- Portuguese
- cauteloso
- Turkish
- dikkatli
- Russian
- осторо́жный ostoróžnyj
- Arabic
- حَذِر ḥaḏir
- Chinese
- 谨慎 jǐnshèn
- Dutch
- voorzichtig
19 more languages
- Polish
- ostrożny
- Swedish
- försiktig
- Korean
- 조심스럽다 josimseureopda
- Indonesian
- waspada
- Vietnamese
- cẩn thận
- Hungarian
- óvatos
- Portuguese (PT)
- cauteloso
- Chinese (Trad.)
- 謹慎 jǐnshèn
- Catalan
- cautelós
- Czech
- opatrný
- Danish
- forsigtig
- Esperanto
- singarda
- Estonian
- ettevaatlik
- Finnish
- varovainen
- Hebrew
- זָהִיר zahír
- Norwegian
- forsiktig
- Romanian
- precaut
- Scottish Gaelic
- cùramach
- Yiddish
- פֿאָרזיכטיק forzikhtik
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: 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.— George Noel Gordon, Ld. Byron
Be swift to hear; but cautious of your tongue.— Henry Watts
Synonyms: Wary; watchful; vigilant; prudent; circumspect; discreet; heedful; thoughtful; scrupulous; anxious; careful. — 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.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54