adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of carefree
Explanation
To be carefree is to be free of care! You have no troubles or worries. Being carefree is feeling happy and breezy, like the carefree days of summer before school starts. To be carefree (one word) is to be happy and relaxed. People tend to be carefree when they're not working or thinking about work or school. Being carefree is the opposite of being stressed out. Carefree is not the same thing as careless — when you’re carefree, you haven't a care in the world and you might dance in a field of daisies. If you’re careless, you’re probably stomping on someone’s garden.
Vocabulary lists containing carefree
Smiley Face: Synonyms for "Happy"
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The Night Diary
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Gordon Lightfoot (1938–2023) Tribute List
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Cole may have helped sell Route 66, Taylor writes, but “the carefree adventure he was promoting was not meant for him.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2026
In another frame, Brigitte Bardot lies carefree in the countryside in a T-shirt and jeans.
From Barron's • May 10, 2026
Another told the court he was a "very carefree 17-year-old" whose future had been "tarnished and altered irreversibly" by the "mistake" he made in trusting the older man.
From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026
In its transparency and boundless views, the Geffen Galleries speak of sunshine and mobility; never before has a major California museum so completely captured the state’s carefree affect.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
He was trying to sound carefree, and not succeeding particularly well.
From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
