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# careless

«careless» in Mova's school dictionary: **not paying enough attention, so you make mistakes or…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (careless, more careless, most careless)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Careless means not paying enough attention, so you make mistakes or cause harm: a careless mistake. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/careless/#m1)

2) Careless means not caring or worrying about something: careless of danger. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/careless/#m2)

3) Careless can also mean relaxed and natural, without effort: careless happiness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/careless/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In maths, «careless mistakes» are errors from rushing (copying a number wrong, forgetting to carry) — check your work. In safety lessons, careless behaviour near roads, fires or water leads to accidents. In stories, a careless character loses things or causes trouble. Phrases: «careless mistake», «careless with money», «careless driving».

### examples

- I made a careless mistake and wrote 54 instead of 45. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/careless/#x1)
- Don't be careless with matches. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/careless/#x2)
- He was careless and left the gate open, so the dog ran out. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/careless/#x3)
- Careless driving can cause accidents. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/careless/#x4)
- She is careless with her things and loses her pencils. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/careless/#x5)
- Check your work to avoid careless errors. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/careless/#x6)
- A careless word can hurt a friend's feelings. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/careless/#x7)
- The careless camper left the fire burning. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/careless/#x8)
- 'Why, you have forgotten your axe again, you careless man! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/careless/#x9)

### note

Adverb: carelessly; noun: carelessness. Opposite: careful. The ending -less means «without»: careless = without care. In maths tests, careless errors are fixed by estimating first and checking the answer at the end.

### In the corpora

- [Leaving about five minutes to check catches careless mistakes.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/52-sats-grammar-punctuation-and-spelling-paper/15/)
- [Kitchen machines are helpful, but they hold heat, steam, gas and electricity that can hurt you if you are careless.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/107-oven-hob-kettle-toaster-and-dishwasher/0/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «careless» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/careless/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.