Meanings
adjectivecautious (comparative more cautious, superlative most cautious)
comparative more cautious · superlative most cautious
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveUsing or exercising caution; careful; tentative
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveshowing careful forethought
Opposite
adjectiveavoiding excess
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From cauti(on) + -ous. Compare Latin cautus.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἐπιμελής, ἥσυχος
- ἐπιμελής (epimelḗs)careful
- ἥσυχος (hḗsukhos)careful
Arabic وَرِع, حَذِر
- وَرِع (wariʕ)careful
- حَذِر (ḥaḏir)careful
- مُتَحَوِّط (mutaḥawwiṭ)careful
Bengali সতর্ক, সাবধান
- সতর্ক (śotork)careful
- সাবধান (śabodhan)careful
Bulgarian внима́телен, предпазли́в
- внима́телен (vnimátelen)careful
- предпазли́в (predpazlív)careful
Catalan cautelós, caut
- cautelóscareful
- cautcareful
Chinese Mandarin 謹慎 /谨慎, 慎重
- 謹慎 /谨慎 (jǐnshèn)careful
- 慎重 (shènzhòng)careful
Czech opatrný, obezřetný
- opatrnýcareful
- obezřetnýcareful
Danish varsom, forsigtig
- varsomcareful
- forsigtigcareful
Dutch voorzichtig
- voorzichtigcareful
Esperanto singarda
- singardacareful
Estonian ettevaatlik
- ettevaatlikcareful
Finnish varovainen
- varovainencareful
French prudent
- prudentcareful
German vorsichtig, zaghaft
- vorsichtigcareful
- zaghaftcareful
- behutsamcareful
Hebrew זָהִיר
- זָהִיר (zahír)careful
Hindi सावधान, सतर्क
- सावधान (sāvdhān)careful
- सतर्क (satark)careful
Hungarian óvatos
- óvatoscareful
Indonesian waspada
- waspadacareful
Irish aireach, faichilleach
- aireachcareful
- faichilleachcareful
Italian cauto, ritenuto
- cautocareful
- ritenutocareful
- oculatocareful
Japanese 慎重な
- 慎重な (shinchō na)careful
Korean 조심스럽다, 신중하다
- 조심스럽다 (josimseureopda)careful
- 신중하다 (sinjunghada)careful
Latin cautus
- cautuscareful
Latvian piesardzīgs
- piesardzīgscareful
Lithuanian atsargus, apdairus
- atsarguscareful
- apdairuscareful
Māori mohito, tūpato
- mohitocareful
- tūpatocareful
Norwegian Bokmål forsiktig
- forsiktigcareful
Persian محتاط
- محتاط (mohtât)careful
Polish ostrożny
- ostrożnycareful
Portuguese cuidadoso, cauteloso
- cuidadosocareful
- cautelosocareful
Romanian precaut
- precautcareful
Russian осторо́жный, внима́тельный
- осторо́жный (ostoróžnyj)careful
- внима́тельный (vnimátelʹnyj)careful
- осмотри́тельный (osmotrítelʹnyj)careful
Scottish Gaelic cùramach
- cùramachcareful
Slovak opatrný, obozretný
- opatrnýcareful
- obozretnýcareful
Spanish cauto, cauteloso
- cautocareful
- cautelosocareful
- precavidocareful
Swedish försiktig, varsam
- försiktigcareful
- varsamcareful
- varligcareful
- aktsamcareful
Thai ระวัง, รอบคอบ
- ระวัง (rá-wang)careful
- รอบคอบ (rɔ̂ɔp-kɔ̂ɔp)careful
- สุขุม (sù-kǔm)careful
- ระมัดระวัง (rá-mát-rá-wang)careful
Turkish dikkatli, ihtiyatlı
- dikkatlicareful
- ihtiyatlıcareful
Ukrainian обере́жний, оба́чний
- обере́жний (oberéžnyj)careful
- оба́чний (obáčnyj)careful
Urdu ساودھان, سترک
- ساودھان (sāvdhān)careful
- سترک (satark)careful
- محتاط (muhtāt)careful
Vietnamese cẩn trọng, cẩn thận
- cẩn trọngcareful
- cẩn thậncareful
Yiddish פֿאָרזיכטיק
- פֿאָרזיכטיק (forzikhtik)careful
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with cautious
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
cautious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cautious
MLA
“cautious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cautious. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cautious,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cautious.
Source: cautious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.