carefully
Americanadverb
-
in a cautious way, with attention to possible risks and dangers.
Although somewhat "folksy" in his interview, the congressman carefully avoided pitfalls where he would be vulnerable to attack.
-
in a thorough, attentive, or painstaking way, giving thought to avoiding errors or omissions.
I have to carefully examine the copy editor's marked-up manuscript, double-checking everything and approving or vetoing changes.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of carefully
First recorded before 1000; careful ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )
Explanation
Carefully means cautiously or painstakingly. If you carefully study your vocabulary words, you'll ace your next quiz! This adverb comes from the Old English carfullice — but before coming to mean "in a way that avoids harm," it meant "sorrowfully." In fact, the very oldest meaning of care was "to be anxious or to grieve." These days, you don't cry when you do something carefully. You just take your time and make sure you're doing it right and that no one's being harmed by it, like when you check carefully behind your car for the neighbor's cat before you back out of the driveway.
Vocabulary lists containing carefully
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.
Such an approach might push companies to design their products more carefully -- or at least force them to reckon with the human cost of getting it wrong, said Tokson.
From Barron's • May 11, 2026
In the process, the memo added, carefully constructed security protocols are deliberately stripped away.
From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2026
They reveal how modern political movements increasingly rely not just on policy or ideology, but on mythology, symbolism and carefully constructed visual identity.
From Salon • May 10, 2026
It feels less carefully constructed than slowly formed - shaped long before the runways and fashion campaigns, in a life far removed from the one she inhabits now.
From BBC • May 9, 2026
Clare ducked forward, threading his way through the lanterns, stepping carefully over the whirlpools—which he inexplicably felt he should avoid.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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.
