reck·less

(rĕk′lĭs)

adj.

Acting or done with a lack of care or caution; careless or irresponsible.

[Middle English reckeles, probably alteration (influenced by recken, to reck) of recheles, retcheles, from Old English rēcelēas; see reg- in Indo-European roots.]

reck′less·ly adv.

reck′less·ness n.

Synonyms: reckless, rash¹, 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" (Gertrude Atherton).
Rash implies haste, impetuousness, and insufficient consideration: "Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash" (George S. Patton).
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).

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

recklessness - the trait of giving little thought to danger

foolhardiness, rashness

unthoughtfulness, thoughtlessness - the trait of not thinking carefully before acting

adventurism - recklessness in politics or foreign affairs

brashness - the trait of being rash and hasty

desperation - desperate recklessness; "it was a policy of desperation"

recklessness

noun

Foolhardy boldness or disregard of danger:

brashness, foolhardiness, incautiousness, rashness, temerariousness, temerity.

Translations

طَيْش، تَهَوُّر

bezstarostnost

hasarderethedubesindighed

Leichtsinn

témérité

kæruleysi, glannaskapur

avventatezza sconsideratezza temerarietà

dikkatsizlik

不顾一切鲁莽

recklessness

[ˈreklɪsnɪs] N (= rashness) → temeridad f; (= thoughtlessness) → imprudencia f
the recklessness of youth → la temeridad de la juventud
the recklessness of her driving → su modo imprudente de conducir

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

recklessness

[ˈrɛkləsnɪs] n

(= culpable carelessness) → imprudence f

(= heedlessness) → imprudence f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

recklessness

n (of person) → Leichtsinn m; (of behaviour) → Leichtsinnigkeit f; (of driver, driving) → Rücksichtslosigkeit f; (of attempt) → Gewagtheit f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

recklessness

[ˈrɛklɪsnɪs] n (of driving) → spericolatezza; (of person, behaviour) → incoscienza, avventatezza

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

reckless

(ˈrekləs) adjective

very careless; acting or done without any thought of the consequences. a reckless driver; reckless driving.

ˈrecklessly adverb

ˈrecklessness noun

recklessness

n. descuido; indiferencia; imprudencia; temeridad.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

But they were in a state of frenzy, perhaps because of forgotten vanities, and it made an exhibition of sublime recklessness. There was no obvious questioning, nor figurings, nor dia- grams.

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Her arms had dropped along the table, and she sat with her face abandoned to his gaze as if in the recklessness of a desperate peril.

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This person gathers mementoes with a perfect recklessness, now-a-days; mixes them all up together, and then serenely labels them without any regard to truth, propriety, or even plausibility.

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Provincial life in 1812 went on very much as usual, but with this difference, that it was livelier in the towns in consequence of the arrival of many wealthy families from Moscow, and as in everything that went on in Russia at that time a special recklessness was noticeable, an "in for a penny, in for a pound- who cares?" spirit, and the inevitable small talk, instead of turning on the weather and mutual acquaintances, now turned on Moscow, the army, and Napoleon.

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"Tell him, Amelia!" cried the two young ladies, with the headlong recklessness of the sex which only stops to think when the time for reflection has gone by.

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I tell you that, with your recklessness--for you have already been twice arrested by the shade in the felt hat, who did not know what you were doing in the cellars and took you to the managers, who looked upon you as an eccentric Persian interested in stage mechanism and life behind the scenes: I know all about it, I was there, in the office; you know I am everywhere--well, I tell you that, with your recklessness, they will end by wondering what you are after here...and they will end by knowing that you are after Erik...and then they will be after Erik themselves and they will discover the house on the lake....If they do, it will be a bad lookout for you, old chap, a bad lookout!...

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She began to get uneasy at a certain recklessness in her conductor's driving.

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Ever since then he had nursed in secret a bitter idea of my utter recklessness. But upon the whole, and unless the grip of a man's hand at parting means nothing whatever, I conclude that we did like each other at the end of two years and three months well enough.

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And, indeed, it seemed small matter for wonder, that for all his pervading, mad recklessness, Ahab did at times give careful heed to the condition of that dead bone upon which he partly stood.

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The youngest member of our party catches the infection of my recklessness (in virtue of his youth) and goes with me.

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"An't'ing yehs wants, damn it," repeated he, waving his hands with beneficent recklessness. "I'm good f'ler, girls, an' if an'body treats me right I--here," called he through an open door to a waiter, "bring girls drinks, damn it.

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Such was the tale of his recklessness they spread, that no one on the water-front would go out with Nelson.

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