caveat

American  

[kav-ee-aht, -at, kah-vee-, kay-] / ˈkæv iˌɑt, -ˌæt, ˈkɑ vi-, keɪ- /

noun

• caveats
  plural

1. 

   a warning or caution.

   Before proceeding with the investment, he was given a caveat about potential risks and volatility in the stock market.

2. Law. a legal notice to a court or public officer to suspend a certain proceeding until the notifier is given a hearing.

   a caveat filed against the probate of a will.

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verb (used with or without object)

1. to give a warning or caution (about information being presented).

   The authors of the paper caveated their findings with a reminder that further research would be necessary.

   Rather than hedging and caveating, I'll just say what I think.

caveat British  

/ ˈkeɪvɪˌæt, ˈkæv- /

noun

1. law a formal notice requesting the court or officer to refrain from taking some specified action without giving prior notice to the person lodging the caveat

2. a warning; caution

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• caveated
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• caveats
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of caveat

First recorded in 1530–40; from Latin: “let him beware,” 3rd-person singular present subjunctive of cavēre “to take care”; see caution

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Explanation

A caveat is a warning. When someone adds a caveat to something they’re telling you to beware — maybe what they’re telling you comes with certain conditions or maybe there’s something dangerous lurking. When your new friend gives you directions to her house, and then says, “The caveat is that when it snows the driveway turns into an ice rink,” she's warning you that your travels could be dangerous. Caveat is also a legal term for when a lawyer asks for a break in proceedings. If a lawyer issues a caveat, she's filing a formal notice to suspend a trial until her client gets a hearing.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

caveat caveats

With the usual caveat that models are imprecise, this one as of last week said markets think short-term rates will average 4.3% over the next decade, which implies today’s rates are relatively low.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

Outside of a few million protestors that no one felt the need to listen to, most Americans were fine with the whole business, but with one caveat: They didn’t want to see it.

From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026

“The caveat here is that hurricane trajectories are subject to change,” he added.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026

The research comes with the caveat that it is not conclusive on ecological consequences, and more research is needed.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

The caveat is that such work has to exist, and in the current economy, it doesn’t.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

There are plenty of caveats to this phoenix-like story of Democratic defeat followed by renewal.

From Slate ● Nov. 6, 2026

Learn how the middle-class housing measure works and its key caveats.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026

To cut to the chase: All this permabull mantra about stocks for the long term, and “average” stock-market returns of 6% or 7% a year plus inflation, need enormous caveats.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026

Liberal democracy was a roaring economic success for most of the 20th century, at least in broad strokes and with some well-known caveats.

From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2026

Nevertheless, as we’ll see, recognizing these major groups is still so useful for understanding history that I’ll use the group names as shorthand, without repeating the above caveats in every sentence.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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Related Words

• admonition

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