careful

careful — adjective

1. making sure you do things right and avoid accidents, errors, or injury — for exa

1.adjectiveA2
Definition

making sure you do things right and avoid accidents, errors, or injury — for example, looking both ways before you cross a street, or checking your homework twice before handing it in.

Example

Ravi was careful not to spill hot soup on his little sister.

careful not to + infinitive: expressing caution about an action

Be careful when you walk on the icy steps outside the library.

imperative: 'Be careful when…' warning pattern

Common collocations
  • careful with (your money / your phone / your words)
  • careful about (what you eat / what you say)
  • careful not to (drop / break / hurt / upset)
  • careful when (you cross / you drive / you handle)
Synonyms
  • cautious

    focuses on avoiding danger or risk; careful is broader and also covers avoiding mistakes.

  • thorough

    emphasises doing every part of a task completely; careful is more about attention during the process.

  • attentive

    stresses watchfulness and noticing details; careful adds the idea of avoiding negative outcomes.

Antonyms
  • careless

    the direct opposite — not giving enough attention to what you are doing.

  • reckless

    stronger than careless — taking dangerous risks without thinking about results.

Grammar Patterns

be careful + to-infinitive

be careful + not to-infinitive

be careful + when/while + clause

be careful + with + noun

careful + noun

Usage Note

This sense commonly appears in warnings (Be careful!) and in the pattern careful + to-infinitive (She was careful not to break the vase). It also functions as an attributive adjective before nouns such as plan, check, examination, and analysis.

Common Mistakes

He is a carefully driver.
He is a careful driver.
careful is an adjective that describes a noun; carefully is an adverb that describes a verb.
I careful checked the list.
I carefully checked the list.
after the verb, use the adverb carefully, not the adjective careful.
Be carefully!
Be careful!
after the linking verb be, use the adjective form, not the adverb.
Idioms

careful with money

idiom

Someone who is careful with money avoids spending it on things they do not need.

My grandmother is very careful with money and never buys new clothes.

Diego was careful with money, so he saved enough for a car.

you can’t be too careful

idiom

This phrase is used to advise someone to be very cautious in order to avoid risks or problems.

Lock the door before you leave; you can't be too careful.

Maya always checks her work twice because you can't be too careful.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

careful 是最通用的字，表示做事時專注、避免犯錯或造成傷害。cautious 強調對潛在危險保持警覺，語氣偏保守，例如「cautious about investing money」（謹慎投資）。thorough 則強調過程完整、每一步都顧到，例如「a thorough review of the documents」（徹底審查文件）。meticulous 語氣最強，表示連最微小的細節都不放過，帶有近乎挑剔的意味，例如「meticulous handwriting」（一筆一畫都非常工整的字跡）。用法差異：你可以說「Be careful!」（提醒他人注意），但不能說「Be meticulous!」來警告當下危險；而 thorough 和 meticulous 更多用來描述已經完成的成果或工作方式。

careful ↗cautious ↗thorough ↗meticulous ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • take careful note of
  • pay careful attention to
  • give careful consideration to

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

The word comes from Old English 'carful', formed from 'caru' (meaning 'care' or 'worry') and '-ful' (meaning 'full of'). It originally meant 'full of worry or anxiety'. By the 1500s the meaning had shifted to 'paying close attention to avoid mistakes or harm', which is the sense we use today.