too-careful
31
6.6
- adjective
:
demasiado cuidadoso
- She became too careful while driving after her accident last year.
- never be too-careful
- too careful these days
- too careful nowadays
He looked green, young, way too careful.
- He looked green, young, way too careful.
Examples
-
A woman can't be too careful nowadays, I say.
Fiction book (2000) -
You can't be too careful these days.
-
You can never be too careful these days.
-
You can never be too careful.
-
I have found through the years, though, that too careful planning can work against me.
Blog text (33) -
You can't be too careful about protection, can you?
-
You can't be too careful in this day and age.
Fiction book (1993) -
You can't be too careful about radiation.
-
I check that the safe with the medicine is securely locked; you can never be too careful.
Academic text (2007) -
"You can never be too careful with borrowed property," Father Dunn said.
Fiction book (2000)
Synonyms
3
6.1
Being more careful than needed because you are afraid of risk
Too cautious so someone avoids normal activities
Being too careful about doing the right thing or duties, often causing stress
Being too careful about following rules or avoiding mistakes
Too careful and slow in a way that seems not natural
Too worried about small details and hard to please
Antonyms
How Careful
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Too-careful comes from putting too- ('more than needed') before careful ('full of care'). So imagine someone being so careful they slow everything down — that image explains why too-careful means taking more care than is needed.