| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| reckless |
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| SYLLABICATION: | reck·less |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  r k l s |
| ADJECTIVE: | 1a. Heedless or careless. b. Headstrong; rash. 2. Indifferent to or disregardful of consequences: a reckless driver. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English reckeles, from Old English r celas. See reg- in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | reckless·ly —ADVERB
reckless·ness —NOUN
| | SYNONYMS: | reckless, rash1, precipitate, foolhardy, temerarious These adjectives mean given to or marked by unthinking boldness. Reckless suggests wild carelessness and disregard for consequences: “conceiving measures to protect the fur-bearing animals from reckless slaughter” (Getrude Atherton, Rezánov 1906.) Rash implies haste, impetuousness, and insufficient consideration: “Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash” (George S. Patton). Precipitate connotes headlong haste without due deliberation: “destroyed in a precipitate burning of his papers a few days before his death” (James Boswell). Foolhardy implies injudicious or imprudent boldness: a foolhardy attempt to wrest the gun from the mugger. Temerarious suggests reckless presumption: “this temerarious foeman who dared intervene between himself [the elephant] and his intended victim” (Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan 1913.)
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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