as in careful
having or showing a close attentiveness to avoiding danger or trouble
heedful of snakes, we watched our footing while walking through the tall grass to the lake's edge
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Recent Examples of heedful
In ancient times a heedful list is a ship of the mind.
—
Jay Pilgreen, Kansas City Star, 12 Feb. 2024
Enduring decades of bans for its salacious content, D.H. Lawrence's 1928 avant-garde novel gets a fresh adaptation under the heedful eye of Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, who deftly explores the depths of female desire.
—Lia Beck, EW.com, 12 Jan. 2024
Her heedful eyes meet those of a young Black girl in overalls and braids on the other side of the room.
—Hazlitt, 9 Aug. 2023
That’s partly because retailers have grown less heedful about developing the necessary pipelines, a problem that’s worsened in recent years as retailers saw profits crushed by a push into low-margin e-commerce.
—Phil Wahba, Fortune, 13 Feb. 2023
As with recent demands to defund the police or abolish ICE amid our domestic upheavals, such calls should be heard not as literal policy prescriptions but as cries from the heart that demand heedful response.
—Suzanne Nossel, WSJ, 10 Mar. 2022
Zhi-shay’ was horrified by his brother’s treatment, but also heedful of the powerful pack rules in which such cruelty is embedded.
—Pamela Miller, Star Tribune, 7 Aug. 2020
McMillan initially promised to train fissile material handlers to be more heedful of plutonium-handling perils, for example, and to bring the inventory and safety documents guiding their work up to date.
—R. Jeffrey Smith, Science | AAAS, 30 June 2017
Jay Pilgreen, Kansas City Star, 12 Feb. 2024
Enduring decades of bans for its salacious content, D.H. Lawrence's 1928 avant-garde novel gets a fresh adaptation under the heedful eye of Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, who deftly explores the depths of female desire.
—Lia Beck, EW.com, 12 Jan. 2024
Her heedful eyes meet those of a young Black girl in overalls and braids on the other side of the room.
—Hazlitt, 9 Aug. 2023
That’s partly because retailers have grown less heedful about developing the necessary pipelines, a problem that’s worsened in recent years as retailers saw profits crushed by a push into low-margin e-commerce.
—Phil Wahba, Fortune, 13 Feb. 2023
As with recent demands to defund the police or abolish ICE amid our domestic upheavals, such calls should be heard not as literal policy prescriptions but as cries from the heart that demand heedful response.
—Suzanne Nossel, WSJ, 10 Mar. 2022
Zhi-shay’ was horrified by his brother’s treatment, but also heedful of the powerful pack rules in which such cruelty is embedded.
—Pamela Miller, Star Tribune, 7 Aug. 2020
McMillan initially promised to train fissile material handlers to be more heedful of plutonium-handling perils, for example, and to bring the inventory and safety documents guiding their work up to date.
—R. Jeffrey Smith, Science | AAAS, 30 June 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heedful
Adjective
-
Orion is a tight space for four people to navigate, so the crew members have a careful choreography to maximize the data the astronauts can gather.—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Through careful tuning of an extended Kalman filter and by taking advantage of bamboo’s natural vibration-damping properties, the system slashes control latency from 15–20 milliseconds down to just 8–10 milliseconds, enhancing responsiveness while keeping flight stable.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
4 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Ebus added that interest in Venezuela is already dividing potential investors, with smaller risk-taking firms eager to enter while major companies remain cautious.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Avoid sudden braking or acceleration, and be especially cautious on hills or when making turns.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Be wary of using manipulation tactics to keep someone close as Venus clashes with Pluto.—
USA TODAY,
USA Today,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Beijing would also be acutely wary of any agreement that would require it to monitor and punish ceasefire violations – especially one that could potentially pull it into conflict with the US.—
Sophia Saifi,
CNN Money,
1 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
One was transported to a hospital in critical condition, while the other was alert, conscious, and breathing.—
CBS News Atlanta Digital Team,
CBS News,
6 Apr. 2026
-
The tears came and stood alert in his eyes, looked out at the world, then retreated.—
Catherine Lacey,
New Yorker,
5 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Heedful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heedful. Accessed 11 Apr. 2026.
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