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thoughtlessness

noun

1
as in carelessness

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2
as in insensitivity

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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 thoughtlessness The thoughtlessness with which this bride coerced you into subsidizing her wedding was stunning. — Judith Martin, Mercury News, 23 May 2026 Its furnishings were anything but describable, having been conceived, manufactured, shipped, and sold in various states of thoughtlessness, greed, and indifference. — Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 17 Feb. 2026 But the movie not wanting to open that particular can of worms isn’t surprising — this is a film that thrives on bloodshed and thoughtlessness. — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 30 Jan. 2026 Essentially, they’re used to meeting an expectation where rudeness and thoughtlessness aren’t tolerated—because their older sister made sure of that. — Jenna Ryu, SELF, 18 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for thoughtlessness
  1. carelessness
  2. insensitivity
  3. recklessness
  4. artlessness
  5. heedlessness
  6. gracelessness
  7. indiscretion
  8. inelegance
Noun
  • Yet the carelessness went up another notch, midway through the first half, when Benjamin Pavard rolled the ball into Martinez’s path and Valverde ran in to close the goalkeeper down.
    — Daniel Taylor, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
  • 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
Definition of carelessness
Noun
  • Sherman is known to savage, with unglamorous insensitivity, the vaunted creative directors of the great houses.
    — Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 19 Aug. 2026
  • The endeavor ultimately showed how the group’s interdependent dynamic made for constant self-incrimination and insensitivity masquerading as selflessness.
    — Dennis Perkins, Entertainment Weekly, 28 July 2026
Definition of insensitivity
Noun
  • Moscow’s drip-drip escalation has been palpable for years now, as sabotage incidents become more frequent, and recklessness in the form of stray drones or ballistic missiles cross into and test NATO’s outer defenses.
    — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Did someone within Rushville, a town decimated by Jordan’s recklessness, wait 10 years for a little revenge of their own?
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 13 Sep. 2026
Definition of recklessness
Noun
  • But then, with seemingly on-the-fly artlessness, Laxe’s camera picks a few of the dancers out.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2025
Definition of artlessness
Noun
  • 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, Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
Definition of heedlessness
Noun
  • Not two years later this tower was to collapse precipitately under its own weight into a pyramid of dust and rubble, only to be rebuilt later, in, unaccountably, all its former gracelessness.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 8 Oct. 2025
Definition of gracelessness
Noun
  • This tender novel of intimacy and its risks begins in Boston in 1969, as Eve, a dancer, commences an affair with a colleague—an indiscretion that spurs her husband, a journalist named Gabe, to cheat, too.
    — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Remind him of his indiscretions and ask him to give you the respect to stay away for a while.
    — Harriette Cole, Mercury News, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of indiscretion
Noun
  • Keeping the battery charged avoids this morsel of powertrain inelegance.
    — Derek Powell, Car and Driver, 19 Jan. 2022
  • There’s a glimmer of maturity not totally obfuscated by some of the film’s inelegance, as Pat considers how much about gayness and queerness has changed in the micro and macro on his journey into the past.
    — Mark Olsen Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2021
Definition of inelegance

Browse Nearby Words

thoughtlessly
thoughtlessness
thought (of)
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Cite this Entry

“Thoughtlessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/thoughtlessness. Accessed 18 Sep. 2026.

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