Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe state or quality of being reckless or heedless, of taking unnecessary risks.
Sentence Examples
Because of my recklessness, I have been playing a losing game since childhood.
As soon as she came in, his recklessness vanished.
CEFR Practice Quiz
His ____ led him to drive through the flooded road, which was very dangerous.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
His ____ on the ski slope put not only himself but other skiers in serious danger.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *rōkijaną
Proto-West Germanic *rōkijan
Old English rēċan
Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁-
Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-der.
Proto-Germanic *leusaną
Proto-Germanic *lausaz
Proto-Germanic *-lausaz
Proto-West Germanic *-laus
Old English -lēas
Old English rēċelēas
Proto-Germanic *-in-
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti
Proto-Germanic *-ōną
Proto-Germanic *-inōną
Proto-Indo-European *-dyé-
Proto-Germanic *-atjaną
Proto-Indo-European *-tus
Proto-Germanic *-þuz
Proto-Germanic *-assuz
Proto-Germanic *-inassuz
Proto-West Germanic *-nassī
Old English -nes
Old English rēċelēasnes
Middle English reklesnes
English recklessness
From Middle English reklesnes, reklesnesse, rekelesnesse (also assibilated as rechelesnes, reccheleesnesse), from Old English rēcelēasnes (“recklessness, carelessness, negligence”), equivalent to reckless + -ness.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"At such times, how we marvel at our usual recklessness, and pause, as it were, shrinking from the busy and inevitable current which is hurrying us on to eternity!"
— 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 228:
"Then, in a state of recklessness, engendered by such luxurious living, he bought another of stout and retired to William Street with it secreted under his coat."
— 1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 155:
"Partly because of the heavy burden of government debt built up during his stewardship, and the uncurbed recklessness of the country’s banks, Britain’s recession is already the harshest in Western Europe."
— 2009 March 29, John F. Burns, “Anglo-American Capitalism on Trial”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 14 Mar 2021: