rashness

American  

[rash-nis] / ˈræʃ nɪs /

noun

1. the state or quality of acting or tending to act hastily or without due consideration.

   It was an act of rashness and presumption.

   Enthusiasm is welcome but rashness and smugness are undesirable.

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Etymology

Origin of rashness

rash ¹ ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )

Explanation

Acting without carefully considering the consequences is rashness. If you impulsively jump off the roof of the shed into a pile of leaves, you may regret your rashness. Rashness is a kind of carelessness, a failure to think about how your actions might harm yourself or someone else. Your rashness can result in hurt feelings, if you blurt out every thought without considering the effects, or in making your parents mad, if you impulsively paint the living room hot pink. Rashness comes from rash, "proceeding from a lack of consideration of consequences," a Scottish word originally meaning "nimble or quick."

Example Sentences

A manager, that for all the rashness and wrath of the past, some team-mates say is answering his calling.

From BBC • Oct. 6, 2025

In true teen fashion, Alice's rashness led to bad decision-making but "Shrinking" never scolds her for her pain or choices.

From Salon • Oct. 26, 2024

Xhaka has typically played as a holding midfielder in his six turbulent years at Arsenal, during which time his defensive indiscipline and occasional rashness in his tackling often has been exposed.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 3, 2022

A case was registered against Sharma by the New Delhi police for "rashness and negligent driving" said Reuters TV partner ANI.

From Reuters • Mar. 13, 2022

I put my life at hazard there, which some might account valor; but I knew it for the rashness of despair, the precipitation of utter despondence.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson