carefully

American

[kair-fuh-lee] / ˈkɛər fə li /

adverb

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

quasi-carefully adverb
ultracarefully adverb

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.

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Vocabulary lists containing carefully

Spelling Practice, Unit 8

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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.

They have survived for centuries by working carefully with larger powers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026

“So it means every Californian needs to use water as carefully as they can.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2026

Investors and Fed watchers will be carefully monitoring how Warsh responds to questions on Fed independence and the central bank’s balance sheet, but few expect his comments to move markets tomorrow.

From Barron's • Apr. 20, 2026

He cut himself off from mankind at the family lake, carefully observing the animals, fish and waterfowl.

From BBC • Apr. 20, 2026

Anna was ahead of me, pulling the nettles carefully so they wouldn’t sting.

From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023