Meaning of cautious in English

cautious

adjective

/ˈkɔː.ʃəs/ us

/ˈkɑː.ʃəs/

Add to word list Add to word list

Someone who is cautious avoids risks:

He's a cautious driver.

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

avoiding risk

carefulBe careful! I don't want you to fall!
cautiousShe's a very cautious driver.
play it safeI think I'll play it safe and take the earlier train.
risk-averseRisk-averse investors will want to stay away from the company's initial public offering.
charyI'm a bit chary of accidentally offending our hosts.
better safe than sorryIt's probably nothing more than a headache, but we'll order a round of tests - better safe than sorry.

See more results »

A cautious action is careful, well considered, and sometimes slow or uncertain:

a cautious approach

cautious criticism

cautious optimism

a feeling that there are some reasons to hope for a good result, even if you do not expect complete success or improvement:

Environmental groups are expressing cautious optimism that an agreement to protect the area can be reached.

More examplesFewer examples

The prime minister was extremely cautious, saying nothing inflammatory and giving no hostages to fortune.
Judging from your exam results, I think you have cause for cautious optimism about getting a university place.
Their supporters gave the decision a cautious welcome.
He is too cautious to be a great leader.
I think you should be cautious about trying to change their views.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Cautious and vigilant

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Paying attention and being careful

Related words

cautiously

cautiousness

(Definition of cautious from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

cautious | American Dictionary

cautious

adjective

/ˈkɔ·ʃəs/

Add to word list Add to word list

not acting quickly in order to avoid risks; careful:

Most doctors are cautious about advising you to have surgery.

Auto companies are taking a cautious approach toward introducing electric cars.

cautiously

adverb us

/ˈkɔ·ʃəs·li/

She was in the habit of driving cautiously.

(Definition of cautious from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

cautious | Business English

cautious

adjective

/ˈkɔːʃəs/ us

Add to word list Add to word list

very careful about what you do or say and unwilling to take risks because you want to avoid possible problems:

be cautious about sth/about doing sth Businesses have become cautious about spending on technology.

a cautious approach/strategy He said the group would continue its cautious approach to expanding in Japan until it better understood the market.

cautious optimism

a feeling that you can be hopeful about a situation although you realize that there still could be problems:

There is cautious optimism for a successful outcome for the financial year.

cautiously

adverb

Textile and garment companies in China reacted cautiously to the announcement.

(Definition of cautious from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of cautious

cautious

Accordingly, their physicians are generally more cautious and less inclined to 'switch-over' to new brands unless proved to be absolutely essential or decidedly superior.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Coupled with the volume's empirical breadth, this cautious optimism helps make the authors' arguments both honest and valuable.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

We must be cautious in attributing motivation to an observed behaviour.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The political decision process in 1992 resulted in a pragmatic and cautious approach when spelling out the details of the reform.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

We must therefore be cautious in the conclusions we draw from this review of notes of patient contacts.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Second, the author maintains a direct yet cautious tone throughout the book.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

With oral sources, in particular, the historian must remain extremely cautious.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

We need, then, to be cautious about approaching such marginal annotation as obvious evidence of reading practice and intellectual meaning.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

While cautious of the sample size underpinning these conclusions, it was also found that consistent trustees had at least undergraduate education and relevant professional qualifications.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

We were cautious with our dosing schedule f or fear of prec ipitating an ag itated delir ium but observed no evidence to suggest this.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

We must be cautious, however, since the plan type affects the types of workers attracted to a firm.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In such cases, a cautious tokenizer produces alternative segmentations postponing the decision to a later processing stage.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In our numerical example, the cost of allowing the other central bank to learn dominates so optimal monetary policy strategy is cautious.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Active learning in the absence of coordination gives central banks an incentive to follow cautious strategies, thereby slowing learning and avoiding conflict.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In providing an answer to the other two questions she has a tendency (wisely) to be cautious and equivocates (p. 251).

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all examples of cautious

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of cautious?