carefully

English

Etymology

From Middle English carfulli, carefulliche, from Old English carfullīċe, ċearfullīċe (“carefully, diligently”), equivalent to careful +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkɛːf(ə)li/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈkɛɹf(ə)li/
  • Audio (General American):(file)
  • Hyphenation: care‧ful‧ly, caref‧ully

Adverb

carefully (comparative more carefully, superlative most carefully)

  1. (obsolete) Sorrowfully.
  2. With care; attentively, circumspectly.
    As he was a politician, he discussed all subjects carefully, not offending anyone.
    He carefully studied the papers, while planning his next move.
    He carefully avoided the subject all evening.
    • 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter II, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0091:
      Then his sallow face brightened, for the hall had been carefully furnished, and was very clean. ¶ There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
  3. Conscientiously, painstakingly, fastidiously, meticulously

Derived terms

Translations

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