imprudent

English

Etymology

From Middle French imprudent, from Latin imprūdens (“not foreseeing, ignorant”), prefix im- (“not”) + prūdens (“foreseeing, skilled, judicious”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɹudənt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

imprudent (comparative more imprudent, superlative most imprudent)

1. Not prudent; lacking prudence or discretion; indiscreet; injudicious; not paying attention to the consequences of one's actions.

   Synonyms: indiscreet, injudicious, incautious, ill-advised, unwise, heedless, careless, rash, negligent

   Antonym: prudent

   • 1711, John Strype, Life and Acts of Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury:

     Here Her Majesty took a great dislike at the imprudent behavior of many of the Ministers and Readers.

   • 1853, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, chapter 3, in Phantom Fortune‎, archived from the original on 12 April 2012:

     ‘It was a most 'imprudent thing to go up Helvellyn in such weather,’ said Fräulein Müller, shaking her head gloomily as she ate her fish.

   • 1864, Jules Verne, chapter 3, in Journey to the Interior of the Earth‎, archived from the original on 12 April 2012:

     My uncle, falling back into his absorbing contemplations, had already forgotten my imprudent words. I merely say imprudent, for the great mind of so learned a man of course had no place for love affairs, and happily the grand business of the document gained me the victory.

Derived terms

• imprudently
• imprudentness

Related terms

• imprudence

Translations

not prudent; wanting in prudence or discretion; indiscreet; injudicious; not attentive to consequence; improper

Bulgarian: неблагоразумен (bg) (neblagorazumen), необмислен (bg) (neobmislen) Catalan: imprudent Esperanto: malprudenta Finnish: harkitsematon (fi), epäviisas (fi) French: imprudent (fr) Galician: imprudente (gl) German: unklug (de), unbedacht (de) Irish: aimhghlic, ainchríonna, díchéillí, éigríonna, místuama, neamhchríonna Italian: imprudente (it) Latin: imprūdens Macedonian: нео́бмислен (neóbmislen), нера́зумен (nerázumen) Manx: anchreeney Maori: mākū(w)are, raukeke Portuguese: imprudente (pt) Romanian: imprudent (ro) Spanish: imprudente (es) Swedish: oklok (sv) Turkish: basiretsiz (tr), ihtiyatsız (tr), tedbirsiz (tr)

References

“imprudent”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin imprūdentem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [im.pɾuˈðen]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [im.pɾuˈðent]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

imprudent m or f (masculine and feminine plural imprudents)

1. imprudent, unwise

   Antonym: prudent

Derived terms

• imprudentment

Related terms

• imprudència

Further reading

• “imprudent”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “imprudent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “imprudent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “imprudent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin imprūdens. Morphologically analyzable as im- +‎ prudent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.pʁy.dɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

imprudent (feminine imprudente, masculine plural imprudents, feminine plural imprudentes)

1. imprudent, incautious, reckless, unwise

   Antonym: prudent

Derived terms

• imprudemment

Related terms

• imprudence

Further reading

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

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French imprudent. Equivalent to in- +‎ prudent.

Adjective

imprudent m or n (feminine singular imprudentă, masculine plural imprudenți, feminine and neuter plural imprudente)

1. imprudent

Declension

Declension of imprudent

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	imprudent		imprudentă		imprudenți	imprudente
	definite	imprudentul		imprudenta		imprudenții	imprudentele
genitive- dative	indefinite	imprudent		imprudente		imprudenți	imprudente
	definite	imprudentului		imprudentei		imprudenților	imprudentelor