as in reckless
having or showing a lack of concern for the consequences of one's actions
a harum-scarum dash through the crowded terminal to make the flight
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in frantically
in a confused and reckless manner
tossed everything harum-scarum from the closet in a desperate attempt to find her shoes
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of harum-scarum
Patricia Cohen, New York Times, 4 May 2025
Adjective
Years of harum-scarum borrowing and spending combined with economic wallops from the Covid-19 pandemic, soaring interest rates and inflation helped drive up Kenya’s debt to $80 billion.
—Patricia Cohen, New York Times, 4 May 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harum-scarum
Adjective
-
As buttoned-up and as rule-abiding as Nicky is, Morgan is reckless.—
Carita Rizzo,
Deadline,
15 June 2026
-
That same week, a 17-year-old was charged with assault, reckless endangerment, and handgun violations after injuring his 14-year-old relative in a shooting.—
CBS Baltimore Staff,
CBS News,
14 June 2026
Adverb
-
The Volkswagen’s passenger would be identified as Miriam Patricia Avila, 37, a woman whose family had been frantically trying to reach her.—
Nate Gartrell,
Mercury News,
19 June 2026
-
The other is the agonizingly good stunt coordination by Julian Spencer that makes men slide in the mud frantically trying to grab and snap each other’s fingers.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
18 June 2026
Adjective
-
Free climbing has been around for many years, but social media has brought the daredevil sport to global audiences and fueled a surge in popularity.—
Ahmed Shawkat,
CBS News,
15 June 2026
-
At this time, Moore says, aviation was considered a daredevil sport, and successful pilots, especially in France, became celebrities.—
Rachel Treisman,
NPR,
26 May 2026
Adverb
-
Two more runs scored in the fourth inning when Ohtani, Pages and Freeman strung together three consecutive two-out singles and Keller wild-pitched a run home.—
Bill Plunkett,
Oc Register,
12 June 2026
-
First, like cucumbers, squash is a wild-growing vegetable that competes for garden space, according to Dilmore.—
Michelle Mastro,
Martha Stewart,
9 June 2026
Adjective
-
His latest heist was especially daring, at challenge used to one of the best catchers in the game at eliminating runners.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
7 June 2026
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The bold and daring hero, who leads the battle for justice, is seen for his passion and wisdom.—
Lisa Stardust,
PEOPLE,
5 June 2026
Adverb
-
Those misses rarely occurred in season two, but three episodes into this season, the bat is flying wildly around the stadium, bonking people in the head in a freak mass-casualty bat-event.—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
22 June 2026
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The good news is that right now, only the looming IPOs of Anthropic, which will be wildly oversubscribed, and OpenAI, which will be far more tepid, stand in the way of the next run for the market, as the coffers seem to be replenishing.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
21 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Harum-scarum.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harum-scarum. Accessed 23 Jun. 2026.
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