caution

American  

[kaw-shuhn] / ˈkɔ ʃən /

noun

• cautions
  plural

1. alertness and prudence in a hazardous situation; care; wariness.

   Landslides ahead—proceed with caution.

   Synonyms:

   vigilance, heed, watchfulness, discretion, circumspection

   Antonyms:

   carelessness

2. a warning against danger or evil; anything serving as a warning.

   By way of caution, he told me the difficulties I would face.

   Synonyms:

   counsel, advice, admonition

3. Informal. a person or thing that astonishes or causes mild apprehension.

   She's a caution. The way he challenges your remarks is a caution.

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verb (used with object)

• cautions,
  present (3rd person singular)
• cautioned,
  past participle,  past
• cautioning
  present participle

1. to give warning to; advise or urge to take heed.

   Synonyms:

   forewarn, admonish

verb (used without object)

• cautions,
  present (3rd person singular)
• cautioned,
  past participle,  past
• cautioning
  present participle

1. to warn or advise.

   The newspapers caution against overoptimism.

caution British  

/ ˈkɔːʃən /

noun

1. care, forethought, or prudence, esp in the face of danger; wariness

2. something intended or serving as a warning; admonition

3. law a formal warning given to a person suspected or accused of an offence that his words will be taken down and may be used in evidence

4. a notice entered on the register of title to land that prevents a proprietor from disposing of his or her land without a notice to the person who entered the caution

5. informal an amusing or surprising person or thing

   she's a real caution

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verb

1. (tr) to urge or warn (a person) to be careful

2. (tr) law to give a caution to (a person)

3. (intr) to warn, urge, or advise

   he cautioned against optimism

caution Idioms  

1. see throw caution to the winds.

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Synonym Usage

See warn.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cautioner
  noun
• overcaution
  noun
• supercaution
  noun
• recaution
  verb (used with object)
• uncautioned
  adjective
• well-cautioned
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• cautions
  plural

Participles

• cautioning
  present
• cautioned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• caution
  simple
• cautions
  simple
• have cautioned
  perfect
• has cautioned
  perfect
• am cautioning
  progressive
• are cautioning
  progressive
• is cautioning
  progressive
• have been cautioning
  perfect progressive
• has been cautioning
  perfect progressive

Past

• cautioned
  simple
• had cautioned
  perfect
• was cautioning
  progressive
• were cautioning
  progressive
• had been cautioning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will caution
  simple
• will have cautioned
  perfect
• will be cautioning
  progressive
• will have been cautioning
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of caution

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English caucion, from Latin cautiōn-, stem of cautiō “a taking care,” from caut(us) “taken care” (past participle of cavēre “to take care”) + -iō -ion; cf. caveat

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Explanation

If you act with caution, it means you are careful. Be sure to use caution when walking across a patch of ice. Otherwise, you might end up sprawling face-first on the ground. Ouch! The noun caution can be used to describe something that calls for careful action and the need to avoid risk, such as a volatile political situation that requires extreme caution. The word also has a verb form with a similar meaning. It’s a more formal way of saying “warn” and usually appears with against or that, as in, "Teachers caution against waiting until the last minute to study," or, "They caution that effective studying takes a long time."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

caution cautions cautioned cautioning

People in the industry caution that the transition will take time.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

However, the researchers caution that longer studies are needed to determine whether the benefits can be sustained.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2026

However, the researchers caution that the results do not establish whether sauna bathing produces lasting improvements in immune function or reduces the risk of illness.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 28, 2026

In the run-up to its Mumbai debut, grey market platforms showed a premium of around 22 percent for Jio shares, although experts caution that such unofficial indicators can be unreliable predictors of early trading.

From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026

He cocked an eyebrow at the twins, who nibbled at the crimped edge of the pies with a look of determined caution.

From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez

"He received a fine. He has no other convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings", she said.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

Sethi cautions that just because you can purchase a house doesn’t mean buying one is a good idea; far from it.

From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026

However, he cautions that individual circumstances can substantially influence the results.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2026

That said, Citi cautions there are downside risks to consensus forecast for Baidu’s net profit, due to its high investment in model training and AI applications.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

I should have expected this—more cautions, another lecture.

From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black

The researchers also cautioned that the study participants did not adequately represent the broader population of people living with insomnia.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2026

Picnic mats and drone photography were banned, and noisy, mobile-phone-toting tourists were kept well away from the graves and cautioned to observe respectful silence.

From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026

But she cautioned that, at this point, the consumer-staples sector appears “overvalued” following its recent surge.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 31, 2026

“The structures we’ve relied on for decades are under pressure, and that’s not going to be fixed just by raising more money and selling more tickets,” he cautioned.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

“But we must hide our authorship of this work,” I cautioned, and Hamlet agreed.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

Just after the opening night’s audience gets their emotional release, a tone fills the theater, with a voice cautioning of a “Level 4 warning.”

From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026

The game started 45 minutes after the National Weather Service issued an extreme heat warning, cautioning against “extremely dangerous heat conditions” as the temperature reached 100 degrees at first pitch.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026

Big banks are cautioning that the sequel won’t compare.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

"Do not use this pill under any circumstance," the institute said in its warning, cautioning that the drug could cause "overheating with potentially fatal consequences".

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

Puffing out his cheeks, Nick went up and down on the balls of his feet a few times, cautioning himself to stay cool.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

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Related Words

• attention
• care
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• prudence
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