carefully
Americanadverb
-
in a cautious way, with attention to possible risks and dangers.
Although somewhat "folksy" in his interview, the congressman carefully avoided pitfalls where he would be vulnerable to attack.
-
in a thorough, attentive, or painstaking way, giving thought to avoiding errors or omissions.
I have to carefully examine the copy editor's marked-up manuscript, double-checking everything and approving or vetoing changes.
Other Word Forms
- quasi-carefully adverb
- ultracarefully adverb
Etymology
Origin of carefully
First recorded before 1000; careful ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )
Explanation
Carefully means cautiously or painstakingly. If you carefully study your vocabulary words, you'll ace your next quiz! This adverb comes from the Old English carfullice — but before coming to mean "in a way that avoids harm," it meant "sorrowfully." In fact, the very oldest meaning of care was "to be anxious or to grieve." These days, you don't cry when you do something carefully. You just take your time and make sure you're doing it right and that no one's being harmed by it, like when you check carefully behind your car for the neighbor's cat before you back out of the driveway.
Vocabulary lists containing carefully
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.
They have survived for centuries by working carefully with larger powers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026
Investors and Fed watchers will be carefully monitoring how Warsh responds to questions on Fed independence and the central bank’s balance sheet, but few expect his comments to move markets tomorrow.
From Barron's • Apr. 20, 2026
The research team also emphasized that these insights can help professionals think more carefully about how they describe AI in their work.
From Science Daily • Apr. 19, 2026
During his caretaker reign at Chelsea, Lampard was open about picking his next job carefully.
From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026
They opened The Way to Rio Luna by Ella St. Clay and carefully leafed through it.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
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.
