imprudence

English

Etymology

From im- +‎ prudence. From Middle French imprudence, from Latin imprudentia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɹuːdn̩s/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: im‧pru‧dence

Noun

imprudence (usually uncountable, plural imprudences)

1. (uncountable) The quality or state of being imprudent; lack of prudence, caution, discretion or circumspection.
   • 1861, Jonathan Elliot, Debates of State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, vol. I, page 422:

     [Hamilton were to have said:] nothing but a permanent body can check the imprudence of democracy.

2. (countable) An imprudent act.
   • 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, IV.iii:

     Ah: my dear—Madam there is the great mistake—'tis this very conscious Innocence that is of the greatest Prejudice to you—what is it makes you negligent of Forms and careless of the world's opinion—why the consciousness of your Innocence—what makes you thoughtless in your Conduct and apt to run into a thousand little imprudences—

   • 1753, Theophilus Cibber, The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753)‎:

     At about the age of twenty-three, to crown his other imprudences, he married, without improving his reduced circumstances thereby.

   • 1891, Francois Coppee, Ten Tales‎:

     Yes, for six months he threw all his medicines in the fire, and designedly committed all sorts of imprudences.

   • 1903, S.C. Hill, Three Frenchmen in Bengal‎:

     This man finally fell a victim to his diplomacies, perhaps also to his imprudences.

   • 1906 – 1921, John Galsworthy, “Encounter”, in The Forsyte Saga, volume 1:

     He [Timothy Forsyte] had never committed the imprudence of marrying or encumbering himself in any way with children.

Synonyms

(lack of prudence): indiscretion; inconsideration; rashness; heedlessness

Translations

quality or state of being imprudent

Bulgarian: неблагоразумие (bg) n (neblagorazumie) Catalan: imprudència f German: Leichtsinn (de) m, Nachlässigkeit (de) f Greek: απρονοησία (el) f (apronoïsía) Kazakh: абайсыздық (abaisyzdyq), абайламаушылық (abailamauşylyq), аңғалдық (añğaldyq) Latin: imprudentia f Portuguese: imprudência (pt) f Spanish: imprudencia (es) f Swedish: oklokhet (sv) c

imprudent act

Bulgarian: непредпазливост (bg) f (nepredpazlivost) Catalan: imprudència f Portuguese: imprudência (pt) f Spanish: imprudencia (es) f

References

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “imprudence”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “imprudence”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin imprūdentia. Morphologically analyzable as imprudent +‎ -ence.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.pʁy.dɑ̃s/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

imprudence f (plural imprudences)

1. imprudence, rashness

Related terms

• imprudent

Further reading

• “imprudence”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.