heedlessness

noun

as in negligence
failure to take the care that a cautious person usually takes the dog's lack of protection against rabies was purely due to his owner's heedlessness

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of heedlessness Holden’s moral rigor is refreshing in a cultural moment marked by an unsettling mix of cynicism and heedlessness. — Lily Meyer, The Atlantic, 7 July 2026 The heedlessness of the children has touched her mood. — Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heedlessness
  1. negligence
  2. carelessness
Noun
  • Most of the negligence cases involved farm work carried out despite local bans, including welding.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles last fall sued SoCal Edison alleging the company’s negligence caused the Eaton Fire and another blaze, seeking to recover tens of millions of dollars in damage to thousands of acres of Angeles National Forest Land.
    — Denise Petski, Deadline, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of negligence
Noun
  • It gets filed alongside carelessness, disorganization and not really trying, and the people who display it often apologize for it as though they’d been caught slacking.
    — Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Either this is an issue of carelessness or a lack of communication between you and the cleaning service.
    — R. Eric Thomas, Chicago Tribune, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of carelessness

Browse Nearby Words

heedlessly
heedlessness
heeds
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Heedlessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heedlessness. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All