adj ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   people who are fearful and cautious wordnet

Adjective

1. 1
   Using or exercising caution; careful; tentative

   "He took a few cautious steps toward the cave."

Adjective

1. 1
   showing careful forethought wordnet
2. 2
   avoiding excess wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

cageygingerlyguardedtimidafraidalert

Antonyms

All antonyms

aggressiveaudaciousbellicosebrave

Example

More examples

"As far as Bob is concerned, anything goes. By contrast, Jane is very cautious."

Etymology

From caution (“from Latin cautus”) + -ous.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.