Meanings
comparative more prudent · superlative most prudent
- Sagacious in adapting means to ends; circumspect in action, or in determining any line of conduct.
It is prudent to consult a physician before beginning any new exercise regimen.
2 more examples
Moſes,[…]eſtabliſht a grave and prudent Law,[…].
1643, J[ohn] M[ilton], The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce: […], London: […] T[homas] P[aine] and M[atthew] S[immons] […], →OCLC, page 26He did not hesitate what to do. It would be prudent to continue on to Omaha, for it would be dangerous to return to the train, which the Indians might still be engaged in pillaging.
1864, Jules Verne, chapter 30, in Around the World in 80 Days, archived from the original on 12 Apr 2012Synonyms: careful, considerate, discreet, alert, attentive, careful, cautelous, cautious · Antonyms: careless, cursory, derelict, heedless, irregardless, irrespective, lash, lax
- Practically wise, judicious, shrewd.
His prudent career moves reliably brought him to the top.
2 more examples
A prudent man foreſeeth the euill, and hideth himſelfe: but the ſimple paſſe on, and are puniſhed.
New International Version translation: The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 22:3–3, column 2The history of cast iron in railway bridges is much more grimly chequered. Brunel's misgivings were proved prudent, tragically, in the 1879 failure of Thomas Bouch's Tay bridge (once a monument to cast iron, now a memorial to many lives lost).
2025 March 5, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Remembering Brunel's timber viaducts”, in RAIL, number 1030, page 60Synonyms: astute, clairvoyant, deep, frood, grounded, judicious, oracular, perspicacious · Antonyms: asinine, balmy, barmy, bedaft, loony, daft, derpy, dim-headed
- Frugal; economical; not extravagant.
Only prudent expenditure may provide quality within a restrictive budget.
Synonyms: abstemious, canny, chary, moderate, cheap, close with a buck, economic, economical · Antonyms: extravagant, extravagant, improvident, imprudent, lavish, loose-handed, prodigal, profligate
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveSagacious in adapting means to ends; circumspect in action, or in determining any line of conduct.
adjectivePractically wise, judicious, shrewd.
adjectiveFrugal; economical; not extravagant.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivecareful and sensible; marked by sound judgment
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinprūdēns
- Old Frenchprudent
- Middle Englishprudent
- Englishprudent
Inherited from Middle English prudent, from Old French prudent, from Latin prūdēns, contracted from prōvidēns (“foresight”) (English providence), the present participle of prōvideō (“to forsee; to provide for”). Unrelated to prude. Doublet of provident. Displaced native Old English glēaw.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek φρόνιμος, πινυτός
- φρόνιμος (phrónimos)sagacious in adapting means to ends
- πινυτός (pinutós)sagacious in adapting means to ends
- ἔμφρων (émphrōn)sagacious in adapting means to ends
- εὔβουλος (eúboulos)sagacious in adapting means to ends
- ἔμφρων (émphrōn)frugal; economical; not extravagant
Arabic حَرِيص, حَكِيم
- حَرِيص (ḥarīṣ)sagacious in adapting means to ends
- حَكِيم (ḥakīm)sagacious in adapting means to ends
- حَرِيص (ḥarīṣ)frugal; economical; not extravagant
Bulgarian предпазлив, благоразумен
- предпазлив (predpazliv)sagacious in adapting means to ends
- благоразумен (blagorazumen)sagacious in adapting means to ends
- разсъдлив (razsădliv)practically wise, judicious, shrewd
- пресметлив (presmetliv)practically wise, judicious, shrewd
- пестелив (pesteliv)frugal; economical; not extravagant
Catalan prudent
- prudentsagacious in adapting means to ends
Chinese Mandarin 謹慎 /谨慎, 慎重
- 謹慎 /谨慎 (jǐnshèn)sagacious in adapting means to ends
- 慎重 (shènzhòng)sagacious in adapting means to ends
Danish fornuftig, tilrådelig
- fornuftigsagacious in adapting means to ends
- tilrådeligsagacious in adapting means to ends
Dutch voorzichtig, omzichtig
- voorzichtigsagacious in adapting means to ends
- omzichtigsagacious in adapting means to ends
- vooruitziendsagacious in adapting means to ends
- prudentsagacious in adapting means to ends
- slimpractically wise, judicious, shrewd
- sluwpractically wise, judicious, shrewd
- beredeneerdpractically wise, judicious, shrewd
- doordachtpractically wise, judicious, shrewd
- zuinigfrugal; economical; not extravagant
- economischfrugal; economical; not extravagant
Esperanto prudenta, prudenta
- prudentasagacious in adapting means to ends
- prudentapractically wise, judicious, shrewd
Finnish harkitsevainen, varovainen
- harkitsevainensagacious in adapting means to ends
- varovainensagacious in adapting means to ends
- viisassagacious in adapting means to ends
- harkitsevainenpractically wise, judicious, shrewd
- harkitsevainenfrugal; economical; not extravagant
German umsichtig, vorsichtig
- umsichtigsagacious in adapting means to ends
- vorsichtigsagacious in adapting means to ends
Italian prudente
- prudentesagacious in adapting means to ends
Japanese 慎重
- 慎重 (shinchō)sagacious in adapting means to ends
Latin prūdens, cordātus
- prūdenssagacious in adapting means to ends
- cordātussagacious in adapting means to ends
- prūdenspractically wise, judicious, shrewd
Māori matawhāiti, matawhāiti
- matawhāitisagacious in adapting means to ends
- matawhāitipractically wise, judicious, shrewd
Norwegian Bokmål aktsom
- aktsomsagacious in adapting means to ends
Polish przezorny, roztropny
- przezornysagacious in adapting means to ends
- roztropnypractically wise, judicious, shrewd
- oszczędnyfrugal; economical; not extravagant
Portuguese prudente, prudente
- prudentesagacious in adapting means to ends
- prudentepractically wise, judicious, shrewd
- prudentefrugal; economical; not extravagant
Russian рассуди́тельный, благоразу́мный
- рассуди́тельный (rassudítelʹnyj)sagacious in adapting means to ends
- благоразу́мный (blagorazúmnyj)sagacious in adapting means to ends
- осторо́жный (ostoróžnyj)sagacious in adapting means to ends
- проница́тельный (pronicátelʹnyj)practically wise, judicious, shrewd
- бережли́вый (berežlívyj)frugal; economical; not extravagant
- расчётливый (rasčótlivyj)frugal; economical; not extravagant
Scottish Gaelic glic, glic
- glicsagacious in adapting means to ends
- glicpractically wise, judicious, shrewd
Spanish prudente, prudente
- prudentesagacious in adapting means to ends
- prudentepractically wise, judicious, shrewd
- criteriosopractically wise, judicious, shrewd
- cautopractically wise, judicious, shrewd
- prudentefrugal; economical; not extravagant
Swedish förtänksam, slug
- förtänksamsagacious in adapting means to ends
- slugpractically wise, judicious, shrewd
- klokpractically wise, judicious, shrewd
Turkish ihtiyatlı, tedbirli
- ihtiyatlısagacious in adapting means to ends
- tedbirlisagacious in adapting means to ends
- sakıngansagacious in adapting means to ends
- önlemlisagacious in adapting means to ends
- sakıntılısagacious in adapting means to ends
- ihtiyatlıpractically wise, judicious, shrewd
- tedbirlipractically wise, judicious, shrewd
- tutumlufrugal; economical; not extravagant
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with prudent
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
prudent. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prudent
“prudent.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prudent. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prudent,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prudent.
Source: prudent on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.