Cautious Adjective - Definition, Pictures, Pronunciation And Usage ...

Oxford logo Toggle navigation Redeem Upgrade Help Sign in Oxford Learners Dictionaries
  • Dictionaries
    • Dictionaries home
    • English
    • American English
    • Academic
    • Collocations
    • German-English
  • Grammar
    • Grammar home
    • Practical English Usage
    • Learn & Practise Grammar (Beta)
  • Word Lists
    • Word Lists home
    • My Word Lists
    • Topics
    • Recent additions
  • Resources
    • Resources home
    • Text Checker
Sign in Dictionaries
  • Dictionaries home
  • English
  • American English
  • Academic
  • Collocations
  • German-English
Grammar
  • Grammar home
  • Practical English Usage
  • Learn & Practise Grammar (Beta)
Word Lists
  • Word Lists home
  • My Word Lists
  • Topics
  • Recent additions
Resources
  • Resources home
  • Text Checker
Redeem Upgrade Help TOP English English American English Academic English Collocations Practical English Usage German-English English-German English American English Enter search text

Definition of cautious adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

cautious adjective   /ˈkɔːʃəs/  /ˈkɔːʃəs/ jump to other results
  1. being careful about what you say or do, especially to avoid danger or mistakes; not taking any risks
    • The government has been cautious in its response to the report.
    • They've taken a very cautious approach.
    • They expressed cautious optimism about a solution to the crisis.
    • cautious about somebody/something | cautious about doing something He was very cautious about committing himself to anything.
    Which Word? cautious / carefulcautious / careful
    • A cautious person is worried that something may be dangerous or unwise, so they only do it very slowly or after a lot of thought. (opposite = rash)
    • A careful person is not worried but does take extra care to make sure that everything is correct or nothing goes wrong. (opposite = careless)
    • Notice also:
    • Be careful/Take care when you drive on icy roads.
    • Caution/Warning—thin ice.
    Extra Examples
    • She accused the government of being unduly cautious.
    • He warned us to be cautious of accepting their statements as fact.
    • Her experiences have made her cautious.
    • What's made you so suddenly cautious?
    • cautious about spending money
    Topics Personal qualitiesc1Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • become
    • get
    adverb
    • extremely
    • fairly
    • very
    preposition
    • about
    • of
    See full entry
    Word Originmid 17th cent.: from caution, on the pattern of pairs such as ambition, ambitious.

    Definitions on the go

    Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.

See cautious in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee cautious in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic EnglishCheck pronunciation: cautious

Nearby words

  • caution verb
  • cautionary adjective
  • cautious adjective
  • cautiously adverb
  • cautiousness noun
newspaper noun From the Word list Oxford 3000 A1 Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day

Tag » How Do You Spell Cautious