adjective
Other Word Forms
- circumspection noun
- circumspective adjective
- circumspectly adverb
- circumspectness noun
- noncircumspect adjective
- noncircumspectness noun
- overcircumspect adjective
- uncircumspect adjective
- uncircumspectness noun
Etymology
Origin of circumspect
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin circumspectus (past participle of circumspicere “to look around”), equivalent to circum- “around, about” ( circum- ) + spec(ere) “to look” + -tus past participle suffix
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.
On the streets of Beijing this week, locals were circumspect about a visit from the US president.
From Barron's • Mar. 20, 2026
But Malibu locals — permit-less and facing rebuild timelines significantly longer than their fellow rebuilding communities — are a bit more circumspect.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 22, 2025
After the race, he was more circumspect, saying he needed to watch the incident before commenting on it further.
From BBC • Oct. 5, 2025
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission was more circumspect, concluding in 2014 that high-frequency trades didn’t cause the flash crash, but “contributed to it by demanding immediacy ahead of other market participants.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 28, 2025
These circumspect words produced a scientific earthquake, for what Rutherford described was the first artificial splitting of the atom.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
