precautious
Americanadjective
Usage
What does precautious mean? Precautious is an adjective that means being careful by actively preparing to avoid something negative. It can refer to a person or an action. Precautious is very similar to cautious. They both mean being prudent to avoid something bad, but precautious has the added sense of doing something beforehand to try to prevent the bad thing from happening. Example: I decided to be precautious and have my mechanic check out my car before the big road trip.
Etymology
Origin of precautious
First recorded in 1705–15; precauti(on) + -ous
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.
“Are we being overly precautious? Maybe. But particularly with your cardiac history, you’re at higher risk.”
From Scientific American • Jun. 10, 2022
"We are always hoping against hope, but it's still too early to take our eye off a very precautious approach."
From BBC • Dec. 30, 2021
Lawmakers and regulators face incentives to take an extremely precautious approach, seeking to minimize all possibility of danger.
From Slate • Nov. 21, 2019
On our march from Castilblanco we were, if possible, doubly precautious.
From The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2) Written by Himself Containing a True and Full Account of the Discovery and Conquest of Mexico and New Spain. by Díaz del Castillo, Bernal
However precautious this plan of payment may have been, it probably led to Noll spending more on incidental outlays than he otherwise would have done with a weekly reckoning to meet.
From Oliver Goldsmith by Buckland, E. S. Lang
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.
