1. Word finder
  2. Word definitions
  3. cautious

Find the word definition

What is "cautious"

Crossword clues for cautious

cautious
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
cautious
adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a cautious approach
▪ China has followed a more cautious approach.
cautious/guarded optimism (=the belief that a future situation will be good or better than before, although you cannot be not sure)
▪ The U.N. sees cause for cautious optimism in what has been achieved so far.
▪ He expressed guarded optimism about the company's future.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
extremely
▪ Therefore, are we not wise in being extremely cautious before we hand over our money supply to a third party?
▪ Her answers are short and extremely cautious.
▪ Spiders, too, must be extremely cautious in their courtship.
▪ Dissonance is most powerful in a generally consonant context - hence the need to be extremely cautious in its use.
▪ These are extremely cautious recommendations, redeemed only by the hope of a more robust analysis in future.
more
▪ While I might have recommended a more cautious approach, I said to myself, Courage, Wadlough.
▪ Sadler, however, was more cautious.
▪ In such situations, hopes for a less active, more cautious and realistic, less expansive foreign policy were slim.
▪ Nicholas, however, proved to be significantly more cautious than the men around him.
▪ Others prefer a more cautious approach.
▪ Bucket shops with more to hide are often more cautious when it comes to recruitment.
▪ As a result, he is far more cautious than Mr Ozawa on deregulation.
most
▪ She hazarded only the tiniest, and most cautious, opinions.
too
▪ Or had he been too cautious, too frightened of his increasing visibility?
▪ I thought Leese was being too cautious.
▪ Rather than concluding that I had been too radical in Opposition, I fast came to the view 1 had been too cautious.
very
▪ It is, I might say, a very cautious company.
▪ The first step of that booted foot on to the moon was very, very cautious.
▪ Remember to use light weights and be very cautious when first exercising the spinal erectors.
▪ I was very cautious on takeoff and avoided the old machine-gun position by making a sharp turn as we cleared the trees.
▪ Most Roman sculptors were very cautious about supporting large blocks of marble.
▪ Phil was always a fearless seaman, and I am a very cautious one.
▪ She has not been out with anyone else since this happened, and is very cautious about having any other relationships.
▪ What we've got is a very cautious policy.
■ NOUN
approach
▪ Wiser counsel suggested a more cautious approach.
▪ While I might have recommended a more cautious approach, I said to myself, Courage, Wadlough.
▪ Left: sometimes you need a cautious approach to appreciate the views.
▪ Others prefer a more cautious approach.
▪ In our view, however, the cautious approach is not to ignore the epidemiological evidence of declining semen quality.
▪ I urge, therefore, a cautious approach to the ascertainment of the intention of the legislature.
▪ A number of factors influenced this highly cautious approach by central government, local councils, the police and the courts.
▪ He has preached pragmatism towards Moscow and a cautious approach to economic reform.
man
▪ It is just that, for a normally cautious man, I feel dangerously out of my depth in this situation.
▪ A cautious man would have inspected the properties he was lending against, for nothing but property underpinned the loans.
▪ Mostly he did not abuse this position, for he is a cautious man.
▪ After that, Eurystheus, a cautious man, would not let him inside the city.
▪ But his lordship's grandfather was a cautious man, and provided himself with a secret way out at need.
▪ Normally a cautious man, Kragan felt the glimmer of satisfaction spread within him.
optimism
▪ There are grounds for cautious optimism.
▪ None the less, there is cautious optimism at the dawning of a new age.
▪ A cautious optimism spread within the liberal intelligentsia, and the writers, especially, initiated calls for greater artistic freedom.
▪ This year 184 dealers took part compared to 176 in 1992 and a number of participants expressed cautious optimism.
▪ There was cautious optimism from ISPs after the announcement was made public yesterday.
welcome
▪ Liberal politicians also gave a cautious welcome to the appointment.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
strike a happy/cheerful/cautious etc note
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ I've always been cautious about giving people my phone number.
▪ If we're too cautious, we might lose a good business opportunity.
▪ Phil's a very cautious driver - it'll take at least an hour to get there.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Again, if the cost is substantial, be cautious of committing more than a few months in advance.
▪ Bucket shops with more to hide are often more cautious when it comes to recruitment.
▪ Employers who establish retirement plans must be cautious about engaging in transactions with their plans.
▪ He also showed cautious sympathy for homosexuals.
▪ I went back on the singles circuit even though the break with Vic should have made me cautious.
▪ It pays to be cautious at first and increase the groundbait amount if things go well.
▪ Overnight Riley Hanson had become a cautious braggart.
▪ The fluctuations in the federal unemployment rates for the states keep local economists cautious about relying on them.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Cautious

Cautious \Cau"tious\, a. [Cf. L. cautus, fr. caver. See Caution.] Attentive to examine probable effects and consequences of acts with a view to avoid danger or misfortune; prudent; circumspect; wary; watchful; as, a cautious general.

Cautious feeling for another's pain.
--Byron.

Be swift to hear; but cautious of your tongue.
--Watts.

Syn: Wary; watchful; vigilant; prudent; circumspect; discreet; heedful; thoughtful; scrupulous; anxious; careful.

Usage: Cautious, Wary, Circumspect. A man is cautious who realizes the constant possibility of danger; one may be wary, and yet bold and active; a man who is circumspect habitually examines things on every side in order to weigh and deliberate. It is necessary to be cautious at all times; to be wary in cases of extraordinary danger; to be circumspect in matters of peculiar delicacy and difficulty.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
cautious

1640s, from caution + -ous. The Latin word for this was cautus "careful, heedful." Related: Cautiously; cautiousness.

Wiktionary
cautious

a. careful; using or exercising caution; tentative

WordNet
cautious

  1. adj. showing careful forethought; "reserved and cautious; never making swift decisions"; "a cautious driver" [ant: incautious]

  2. avoiding excess; "a conservative estimate" [syn: conservative]

  3. cautious in attitude and careful in actions; prudent; "a cautious answer"; "very cautious about believing everything she was told"

  4. unwilling to take risks

cautious

n. people who are fearful and cautious; "whitewater rafting is not for the timid" [syn: timid] [ant: brave]

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "cautious".

David the developer and Abraham a clear thinker with a cautious mind, his steady right arm.

Cautious, conservative by nature, Dickinson was, as Adams had noted, a distinctive figure, tall and exceptionally slender, with almost no color in his face.

Jefferson had been slower, more cautious and ambivalent than Adams about resolving his views on independence.

Was he simply being cautious, or did he feel -- as Ahl did -- that the island brooded and held secrets?

I was struck cold and cautious, asudden aware of the dangerous ground upon which I trod.

But in the very cramped quarters aboard the schooner he was using to supervise the landing of his troops at Bayou Bienvenu, his movements had become downright cautious.

They made their cautious way toward the bridgeway with Reacher and the prowlers afoot, eliminating the occasional sentry without commotion.

Michael Cagliari, the national security adviser, took a cautious approach.

The action of these conventions was deliberate, cautious, and careful.

Joesai had been a foil to bring out the most deadly counterthrust of the Mnankrei and now they had made it and Bendaein would know what he was up against and respond to that, Bendaein the Cautious.

Princeton College, whose influence, more New Englandish than New England, directed by a succession of illustrious Yale graduates in full sympathy with the advanced theology of the revival, was counted on to withstand the more cautious orthodoxy of Yale.

In that time he had not only conserved what Flenser built, he extended it beyond the cautious beginnings.

He turned toward the headrail, gave it a cautious tap with his left index finger, then another.

This was the period of the year when the Rockland people were most cautious of wandering in the leafier coverts which skirted the base of The Mountain, and the farmers liked to wear thick, long boots, whenever they went into the bushes.

Be cautious of wineries that tell you they can ship to nonreciprocal states, and make sure you get a firm commitment.