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reckless abandon

American  
[rek-lis uh-ban-duhn] / ˈrɛk lɪs əˈbæn dən /

noun

  1. unrestrained surrender to impulse or passion, without regard for convention, appearances, good sense, or risk.

    He played with reckless abandon, his enthusiasm for the game flowing from his every pore.

    With this data deal you'll be able to stream movies and music with reckless abandon.


Commonly Confused

See reckless abandonment ( def. ).

Etymology

Origin of reckless abandon

First recorded in 1830–40

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.

See Examples For:

These days, they’re practically inescapable in the replies to many users’ posts and are firing off direct messages with reckless abandon.

From Slate Jun. 12, 2024

The Premier League and its fellow travelers in what might be described as the transfer industrial complex have spent decades hooking fans on a constant diet of teams’ hurling money around with reckless abandon.

From New York Times Feb. 2, 2024

But I’d like to think that I understand how to pursue my art without such a reckless abandon.

From Los Angeles Times Dec. 12, 2023

Unless you're Alison Roman, you're probably not consuming anchovies with reckless abandon on the regular.

From Salon Sep. 9, 2023

Pinmei felt relief flood through her, the waves of gratitude carrying her in reckless abandon, as they crashed through the open door.

From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin

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