Careful Meaning
/ˈkɛɹfəl/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjTaking care; attentive to potential danger, error or harm; cautious.
adjConscientious and painstaking; meticulous.
Sentence Examples
You must be careful not to make him angry.
You had better be careful not to overeat.
Be careful not to drop that plate.
CEFR Practice Quiz
When handling fragile china plates, the museum staff must be extremely ____ to avoid dropping them.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please be ____ when you cross the busy street near the school today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English careful, from Old English carful; equivalent to care + -ful.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"John Aubrey Douglass, a senior research fellow at the Center for Studies in Higher Education at Berkeley, said that while he was not an insider on admissions practices, “my sense is that admissions is highly regulated and careful to stay clear of Prop 209 restrictions, and the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action.”"
— 2025 February 3, Anemona Hartocollis, “The University of California Increased Diversity. Now It’s Being Sued.”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Feb 2025:
"At the same time, we were cognisant that careful scholars should never solely rely on their own impressionistic observations, and, that our own impressions were inexact and not capable of being quantified."
— 2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 7:
"Where through long watch, and late daies weary toile, / She soundly slept, and carefull thoughts did quite assoile."
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
When handling fragile china plates, the museum staff must be extremely ____ to avoid dropping them.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please be ____ when you cross the busy street near the school today.