cautious B1 Topic:Safety & Risk US /ˈkɔːʃəs/ See IPA manual Freq #8549 Meanings 1 adj Careful to avoid danger, risk, or mistakes. He took a few cautious steps toward the edge of the cliff. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · careful to avoid danger,... carefulguardedwary ↔ Opposites aggressivebellicosecarelessdaredevildauntlessincautiousneglectingrecklessuncautious Word family Forms cautiousness Common collocations cautious statement Adjective + noun Etymology AI details From cauti(on) + -ous. Compare Latin cautus. Topics Safety & Risk External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # cautious **Type:** Word **Level:** B1 **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /ˈkɔːʃəs/ **Frequency rank:** 8549 ## Meanings 1. Careful to avoid danger, risk, or mistakes. ## Examples - He took a few cautious steps toward the edge of the cliff. ## Antonyms - aggressive - bellicose - careless - daredevil - dauntless - incautious - neglecting - reckless - uncautious ## Roots and Affixes - Affix: -ious - full of ## Etymology From cauti(on) + -ous. Compare Latin cautus. ## AI Etymology Cautious is from cauti(on) plus -ous. Compare Latin cautus. The suffix -ous gives cauti(on) adjectival shape, so the word means characterized by or disposed toward the quality named in the base. In use as an adjective, cautious denotes careful to avoid danger, risk, or mistakes. Typical contexts include “He took a few cautious steps toward the edge of the cliff”. The meaning stays close to the form: it applies the etymological material to careful to avoid danger, risk, or mistakes, keeping the visible parts legible in ordinary use. ## Topics - Safety & Risk markdown