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accident-prone

accident-prone

9 5.1
Likely to get hurt or break things often
  • adjective
  • /ˈæk.sɪ.dənt.proʊn/
translation icon : propenso a accidentes
  • His accident-prone nature led to frequent trips to the hospital for minor injuries.
  • accident-prone drivers
  • accident-prone child
  • very accident-prone

Examples

Synonyms

careless
vsaccident-prone
14 1.0

A lack of attention that causes mistakes or harm

is a frequent tendency to suffer physical mishaps not only from inattention
error-prone
vsaccident-prone
2 5.1

Tends to make many mistakes

is about frequent physical mishaps rather than only making mistakes

Antonyms

1.0

Watching what you do to avoid mistakes or harm

210 2.9

Careful to avoid risk or mistakes

How Accident-Prone

reckless
193 3.6
careless
14 1.0
accident-prone
9 5.1
clumsy
73 1.2
careful
1.0

Surface Forms

accident-prone positive

Morphology

accident-prone = accident + prone (transparent) = accident + prone

The adjective is directly formed by combining 'accident' and 'prone' to mean 'likely to have accidents', which is clear to learners.

Etymology

The word accident-prone combines the everyday word accident ('a mishap') and prone ('likely to'). Think of prone as once meaning 'bent forward', so you can imagine someone leaning and ready to fall, which is why accident-prone means 'likely to have accidents'.