We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.
Source: tatoeba (2318)
Careful
//ˈkɛɹfəl//
Synonyms for "careful" (166 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (34)
Strong matches (49)
Related words (83)
leaving out nothingleerylovingmeasuredmethodicalmeticulousminutemoney savingmoney-savingnarrownicenigglingnoncommittalobservantobservingon guardon the ballon the jobopen eyedopen-eared
Show 56 more words
open-eyedopenmouthedovercarefuloverconscientiousoverlooking no possibilityoverscrupulouspainfulparsimoniouspawkypenny-wisepoliticpreciseprotectiveprudentprudentialpunctiliouspunctualreflectingreflectivereligiousreluctantrigidsafesavingscotchscrimpingscrupulousskimpingslow to actsparesparingstrictstudiedstudioussuresuspicioussystematictactfultendertender-consciencedtentativethriftytime savingtime-savingtrueunadventurousuncommunicativeundaringuneasyunenterprisingunprecipitateunwastefulvigilantwarywell-advisedwell-judged
Adjective(5 words)
How these synonyms differ
- cautious - 'Cautious' implies wariness about risk, a cautious driver anticipates danger. 'Careful' is broader and can simply mean attentive to detail.
- deliberate - 'Deliberate' means careful by choice and design, each step is intentional. It emphasizes purpose over anxiety.
- meticulous - 'Meticulous' is care taken to an extreme, every detail examined, every standard met. It borders on obsessive precision.
- prudent - 'Prudent' adds wisdom to caution, a prudent decision isn't just safe but well-reasoned. It implies foresight rather than mere worry.
- vigilant - 'Vigilant' is care on high alert, watching for threats or problems with sustained intensity. A careful person avoids mistakes; a vigilant one guards against them.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
Antonyms
2 entriesSynonyms
17 entriesShowing 16 of 17 words.
derived
8 entriesderived from
2 entriesrelated to
19 entriesShowing 16 of 19 words.
similar
40 entriesShowing 16 of 40 words.
Translations
154 translations across 61 languages.
Albanian
1 entries- kujdesshëm adj (cautious)
Ancient Greek
1 entries- ἐπιμελής adj (cautious)
Arabic
2 entries- حَذِر adj (cautious)
- دَقِيق adj (meticulous)
Belarusian
4 entries- акура́тны adj (cautious)
- асцяро́жны adj (cautious)
- пі́льны adj (cautious)
- ува́жлівы adj (cautious)
Bengali
2 entries- সতর্ক adj (cautious)
- সাবধান adj (cautious)
Bulgarian
4 entries- акура́тен adj (meticulous)
- внима́телен adj (cautious)
- грижли́в adj (cautious)
- стара́телен adj (meticulous)
Catalan
4 entries- acurat adj (meticulous)
- anar amb compte adj (cautious)
- cautelós adj (cautious)
- curós adj (meticulous)
Chinese Mandarin
4 entries- 仔細 /仔细 adj (meticulous)
- 小心 adj (cautious)
- 當心 /当心 adj (cautious)
- 細緻 /细致 adj (meticulous)
Crimean Tatar
2 entries- muqayt ol adj (cautious)
- saqt ol adj (cautious)
Czech
2 entries- opatrný adj (cautious)
- pečlivý adj (meticulous)
Danish
1 entries- forsigtig adj (cautious)
Dutch
4 entries- behoedzaam adj (cautious)
- doortastend adj (meticulous)
- grondig adj (meticulous)
- omzichtig adj (cautious)
Esperanto
3 entries- singarda adj (cautious)
- zorga adj (cautious)
- zorgema adj (cautious)
Estonian
2 entries- ettevaatlik adj (cautious)
- tähelepanelik adj (cautious)
Faroese
4 entries- ansin adj (cautious)
- gáin adj (cautious)
- hyggin adj (cautious)
- varin adj (cautious)
Finnish
2 entries- huolellinen adj (meticulous)
- varovainen adj (cautious)
French
3 entries- attentif adj (meticulous)
- prudent adj (cautious)
- soigneux adj (meticulous)
Galician
1 entries- cauto adj (cautious)
Georgian
1 entries- ყურადღებიანი adj (cautious)
German
3 entries- behutsam adj (cautious)
- sorgfältig adj (meticulous)
- vorsichtig adj (cautious)
Greek
2 entries- επιμελής adj (meticulous)
- προσεκτικός adj (cautious)
Gujarati
1 entries- સાવધાન adj (cautious)
Hebrew
1 entries- זָהִיר adj (cautious)
Hindi
4 entries- सचेत adj (meticulous)
- सतर्क adj (cautious)
- सतर्क adj (meticulous)
- सावधान adj (cautious)
Hungarian
1 entries- óvatos adj (cautious)
Icelandic
2 entries- var adj (cautious)
- varkár adj (cautious)
Indonesian
3 entries- cermat adj (meticulous)
- hati-hati adj (cautious)
- teliti adj (meticulous)
Ingrian
1 entries- hoolekas adj (meticulous)
Irish
2 entries- aireach adj (cautious)
- curamach adj (meticulous)
Italian
4 entries- accurato adj (meticulous)
- attento adj (meticulous)
- cauto adj (cautious)
- fare attenzione adj (cautious)
Japanese
2 entries- 思慮深い adj (cautious)
- 注意深い adj (meticulous)
Kazakh
1 entries- сақ adj (cautious)
Korean
3 entries- 신중하다 adj (cautious)
- 조심하다 adj (cautious)
- 주의깊다 adj (meticulous)
Latin
4 entries- cautus adj (cautious)
- curiosus adj (cautious)
- diligens adj (meticulous)
- meticulosus adj (meticulous)
Latvian
4 entries- rūpīgs adj (cautious)
- rūpīgs adj (meticulous)
- uzmanīgs adj (cautious)
- uzmanīgs adj (meticulous)
Macedonian
1 entries- внимателен adj (cautious)
Malay
1 entries- hati-hati adj (cautious)
Marathi
1 entries- सावध adj (cautious)
Neapolitan
1 entries- accuorto adj (cautious)
Norman
1 entries- souongneux adj (meticulous)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- forsiktig adj (cautious)
Occitan
1 entries- téner ment adj (cautious)
Old English
1 entries- carful adj (cautious)
Persian
2 entries- دقیق adj (meticulous)
- محتاط adj (cautious)
Polish
2 entries- drobiazgowy adj (meticulous)
- ostrożny adj (cautious)
Portuguese
4 entries- cauteloso adj (cautious)
- cuidadoso adj (cautious)
- cuidadoso adj (meticulous)
- meticuloso adj (meticulous)
Romanian
4 entries- atent adj (cautious)
- grijuliu adj (cautious)
- precaut adj (cautious)
- prudent adj (cautious)
Russian
4 entries- аккура́тный adj (cautious)
- аккура́тный adj (meticulous)
- внима́тельный adj (cautious)
- осторо́жный adj (cautious)
Sanskrit
2 entries- सतर्क adj (cautious)
- सावधान adj (cautious)
Scottish Gaelic
2 entries- cùramach adj (cautious)
- cùramach adj (meticulous)
Serbo-Croatian
4 entries- brìžljiv adj (meticulous)
- brȉžan adj (meticulous)
- pòmnjiv adj (meticulous)
- ȍprēzan adj (cautious)
Slovak
2 entries- opatrný adj (cautious)
- starostlivý adj (meticulous)
Slovene
1 entries- skrben adj (cautious)
Spanish
4 entries- cauto adj (cautious)
- concienzudo adj (meticulous)
- cuidadoso adj (cautious)
- cuidadoso adj (meticulous)
Swedish
2 entries- försiktig adj (cautious)
- noggrann adj (meticulous)
Tagalog
1 entries- maingat adj (cautious)
Tocharian B
1 entries- imassu adj (cautious)
Turkish
1 entries- dikkatli adj (cautious)
Ukrainian
3 entries- акура́тний adj (cautious)
- обере́жний adj (cautious)
- ува́жний adj (cautious)
Urdu
2 entries- ساودھان adj (cautious)
- سترک adj (cautious)
Welsh
1 entries- gofalus adj (cautious)
Sample sentences
16 total sentences available.
You must be careful not to make him angry.
Source: tatoeba (15795)
You had better be careful not to overeat.
Source: tatoeba (15985)
You cannot be too careful when driving.
Source: tatoeba (16018)
Showing 4 of 16 available sentences.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.