| 释义 |
careless, a.|ˈkɛəlɪs|
[OE. carléas, repr. OTeut. type *karalaus: see care n. and -less.]
The opposite of careful in its various senses.
†1. Free from care, anxiety, or apprehension. (Since c 1650 arch., poetic, or nonce-wd.)
a1000Rule Ben. 2 (Bosw.) He on ðam dome freoh and carleas biþ. c1205Lay. 12478 Nu we maȝen to ȝere careles wunien here. a1225Ancr. R. 246 Þe kastel is wel kareleas aȝean his unwines. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. ix. 6 Depart in peace with a quyet and careles mynde. 1611Bible Judg. xviii. 7 They dwelt carelesse, after the maner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure. [1671Milton P.R. iv. 299 In corporal pleasure he, and careless ease.] 1705Pope Ep. Miss Blount 11 Thus wisely careless, innocently gay. 1816J. Wilson City of Plague i. i. 352 That book, With whose worn leaves the careless infant plays. 1857Hughes Tom Brown, The may-fly is the carelessest fly that dances..by English rivers. ]
2. Unconcerned; not caring or troubling oneself; not solicitous, regardless; having no care of, about, or † to.
a1000Cædmon's Exod. 151 (Gr.) Wulfas sungon, carleasan deor. c1205Lay. 19658 Þenne weoren heo care-læse of Costantines cunne. 1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 144 Seeing the father carelesse what they learne, he is also secure what he teacheth. 1585Abp. Sandys Serm. (1841) 148 A governor like to Moses..not careless to be zealous in God's cause. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. ii. 79 And come to Padua carelesse of your life. 1614Markham Cheap Husb. i. ii. (1668) 10 Gingle the..stirrops about his ears, to make him careless of the noise. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 504 'Tis Aristæus..Who to his careless Mother makes his Moan. 1727De Foe Eng. Tradesm. (1841) I. vii. 48 Careless of the event of things. 1770Goldsm. Des. Vill. 161 Careless their merits or their faults to scan. 1800Wordsw. Michael 28, I was yet a Boy Careless of Books. 1807Crabbe Par. Reg. iii. 859 Careless what he said. 1847tr. J. De Vega's Jrnl. Tour iii. 18 Quite resigned and careless about the loss. 1883Lloyd Ebb & Fl. II. 202 ‘Not at all’..said Frank, in one of his most careless tones.
3. Not taking due care, not paying due attention to what one does, inattentive, negligent, thoughtless; inaccurate.
1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 195 As farre be they carelesse from honour as they be from awe. 1579Thynne Animadv. (1865) 6 By oure carelesse..printers of Englande. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. v. §25 It is natural for careless writers to run into faults they never think of. 1805Wordsw. Prelude xiii. (1851) 276 Souls that appear to have no depth at all To careless eyes. 1871Morley Voltaire (1886) 29 Writers so acutely careless as Montaigne.
4. Of things:
†a. Uncared for, untended (obs.);
b. Arranged or uttered without art; artless, unstudied, négligé (arch.);
c. (esp. in mod. use) Done, caused, or said heedlessly, thoughtlessly, negligently. Esp. in phr. careless talk, applied during the war of 1939–45 to talk which, if overheard, might assist the enemy.
1590Marlowe Hero & L. 1, A country maid, Whose careless hair..Glistered with dew. 1596Spenser F.Q. iv. iv. 38 Their many wounds and carelesse harmes. 1605Shakes. Macb. i. iv. 11 To throw away the dearest thing he ow'd As 'twere a carelesse Trifle. 1660Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 32/2 Causing a careless rupture in the State. 1704Steele Lying Lover i. (1747) 12 My Sword..does it hang careless? 1706Pope Lett. Wks. 1736 V. 52, I have seen..women..look better in a careless night-gown..than Mademoiselle Spanheim drest for a ball. a1763Shenstone Wks. (1764) I. 128 My limbs with careless ease reclin'd. 1768Beattie Minstr. ii. vi, One evening, as he framed the careless rhyme. 1798S. Rogers Ep. to Friend 190 Careless my course, yet not without design. Mod. Nothing could show better the contrast between careful and careless work. 1940War Illustr. 16 Feb. 98/3 A Finnish soldier is reading a Government poster warning the people that careless talk may help the enemy. 1942T. Rattigan Flare Path i. 95 Talk about careless talk! Ibid. 100 There must be some news, or are you going all careless talk on me?
5. quasi-adv.
1812J. Wilson Isle of Palms ii. 447 The dripping sail is careless tied Around the painted mast. 1855Tennyson To Rev. F. D. Maurice 15, A careless-order'd garden. |