HEEDLESSNESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does heedlessness mean? 

• HEEDLESSNESS (noun)
  The noun HEEDLESSNESS has 3 senses:

1. a lack of attentiveness (as to children or helpless people)

2. the trait of acting rashly and without prudence

3. the trait of forgetting or ignoring your responsibilities

  Familiarity information: HEEDLESSNESS used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HEEDLESSNESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A lack of attentiveness (as to children or helpless people)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

heedlessness; inattentiveness

Hypernyms ("heedlessness" is a kind of...):

inattention (lack of attention)

Derivation:

heedless (marked by or paying little heed or attention)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The trait of acting rashly and without prudence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

heedlessness; mindlessness; rashness

Hypernyms ("heedlessness" is a kind of...):

imprudence (a lack of caution in practical affairs)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "heedlessness"):

lightheadedness (a frivolous lack of prudence)

Derivation:

heedless (characterized by careless unconcern)

heedless (marked by or paying little heed or attention)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The trait of forgetting or ignoring your responsibilities

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

heedlessness; inadvertence; inadvertency; unmindfulness

Hypernyms ("heedlessness" is a kind of...):

attentiveness (the trait of being observant and paying attention)

Antonym:

heedfulness (the trait of staying aware of (paying close attention to) your responsibilities)

 Context examples 

There, he had learnt to distinguish between the steadiness of principle and the obstinacy of self-will, between the darings of heedlessness and the resolution of a collected mind.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Vanity, extravagance, love of change, restlessness of temper, which must be doing something, good or bad; heedlessness as to the pleasure of his father and Mrs. Weston, indifferent as to how his conduct might appear in general; he became liable to all these charges.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)