as in negligence
failure to take the care that a cautious person usually takes
the only errors you made were from carelessness, not lack of knowledge
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Recent Examples of carelessness
Kerry Doyle, the former top ICE attorney during the Biden administration, said Mazzara’s comments show a shocking carelessness about the potential for harm against both the general public and the officers he was employed to protect.
—
Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2026
Head coach Sean Miller went right up to him afterward, apparently angry at his carelessness that could’ve cost the Longhorns the game.
—Caleb Yum, Austin American Statesman, 18 Mar. 2026
Also, of course, there was always the danger of damage in transit, of human carelessness.
—Han Ong, New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2026
Someone gets hurt, the cause points toward another person’s carelessness, and suddenly, the situation becomes legal instead of just painful.
—Maria Williams, USA Today, 17 Feb. 2026
The other was carelessness that led to Gonzalez’s clean look.
—C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 25 Jan. 2026
But the turnovers that are born of carelessness?
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 11 Jan. 2026
Straight-up errors, like the errant pass from James Tarkowski that led to Brentford’s opener, or Tim Iroegbunam’s carelessness before their third, have not been common flaws.
—Greg O'Keeffe, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
Their carelessness and abstraction.
—Francesco Pacifico, The Dial, 9 Dec. 2025
Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2026
Head coach Sean Miller went right up to him afterward, apparently angry at his carelessness that could’ve cost the Longhorns the game.
—Caleb Yum, Austin American Statesman, 18 Mar. 2026
Also, of course, there was always the danger of damage in transit, of human carelessness.
—Han Ong, New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2026
Someone gets hurt, the cause points toward another person’s carelessness, and suddenly, the situation becomes legal instead of just painful.
—Maria Williams, USA Today, 17 Feb. 2026
The other was carelessness that led to Gonzalez’s clean look.
—C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 25 Jan. 2026
But the turnovers that are born of carelessness?
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 11 Jan. 2026
Straight-up errors, like the errant pass from James Tarkowski that led to Brentford’s opener, or Tim Iroegbunam’s carelessness before their third, have not been common flaws.
—Greg O'Keeffe, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
Their carelessness and abstraction.
—Francesco Pacifico, The Dial, 9 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for carelessness
negligence
Noun
-
The lawsuit accuses the hotel's ownership and management of negligence in connection with the incident last July.—
Terell Bailey,
CBS News,
27 Mar. 2026
-
The jury in Los Angeles found that Meta and YouTube were negligent in the design of their platforms, and that this negligence was a substantial factor in causing harm to the plaintiff.—
Tim Smith,
Vogue,
27 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Carelessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/carelessness. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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