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. Philip Brown:

   Investors are not necessarily stepping back altogether but they are scaling back, investors are generally a little bit more cautious at the moment than they have been at the start of recent years.

2. Peter Foley:

   We were cautious about this, there were characteristics of the contact that made it unlikely to be MH370, but there were also aspects that generated interest, multiple small bright reflections in a relatively small area of otherwise featureless seabed.

3. Alvin Tan:

   The Chinese measures haven't really restored confidence. The market turmoil is not over. And under such risk averse condition, the yen and the euro will continue to be supported, in the short term, the dollar is likely to underperform the euro and the yen. We also expect the Fed to be very cautious about raising rates.

4. Mark Sawyer:

   It will be a couple of years before M&A comes back, as traditional lenders and equity capital markets get more cautious and more reluctant to invest, then they of course create a vacuum.

5. Ed Hine:

   Is it a two billion dollar catastrophe or a ten billion dollar catastrophe, a lot of times that’s not known very quickly, this is a technology that can help to make that process go a lot faster and also help to respond to their main customers quickly too and get them their money, said Peter Fuchs, co-founder of drone manufacturer Ascent Aerosystems. While helpful in certain aspects, drones can’t assist in traditional helicopter efforts. Drone operators are cautious not to interfere with normal search and rescue operations, but experts say integration is key to being successful, which means that everyone on the ground has to be on the same page. It’s not just about capturing a lot of data, it’s about capturing the critical data and getting it to the right people at the right time.

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