prudent

See also: Prudent

English

Etymology

From Middle English prudent, from Old French prudent, from Latin prūdēns, contracted from prōvidēns (“foresight”) (English providence), the past participle of prōvideō (“I forsee”). Unrelated to prude. Doublet of provident.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹuːdənt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːdənt

Adjective

prudent (comparative more prudent, superlative most prudent)

1. Sagacious in adapting means to ends; circumspect in action, or in determining any line of conduct.

   Synonyms: careful, considerate, discreet; see also Thesaurus:cautious

   • 1864, Jules Verne, chapter 30, in Around the World in 80 Days‎, archived from the original on 12 April 2012:

     He did not hesitate what to do. It would be prudent to continue on to Omaha, for it would be dangerous to return to the train, which the Indians might still be engaged in pillaging.

   • 1643, John Milton, Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce:

     Moses established a grave and prudent law.

2. Practically wise, judicious, shrewd.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:wise

   His prudent career moves reliably brought him to the top.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 22:3:

     A prudent man foreseeth the euill, and hideth himselfe: but the simple passe on, and are punished.

   • 2025 March 5, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Remembering Brunel's timber viaducts”, in RAIL, number 1030, page 60:

     The history of cast iron in railway bridges is much more grimly chequered. Brunel's misgivings were proved prudent, tragically, in the 1879 failure of Thomas Bouch's Tay bridge (once a monument to cast iron, now a memorial to many lives lost).

3. Frugal, economical.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:frugal

   Antonym: extravagant

   Only prudent expenditure may provide quality within a restrictive budget.

Antonyms

• imprudent
• incontinent

Derived terms

• prudence
• prudent man rule
• prudently

Related terms

• jurisprudence
• prudence
• prudential
• provident

Translations

sagacious in adapting means to ends

Arabic: حَرِيص (ḥarīṣ), حَكِيم (ar) (ḥakīm) Egyptian Arabic: حريص (ḥarīṣ) Bulgarian: предпазлив (bg) (predpazliv), благоразумен (bg) (blagorazumen) Catalan: prudent (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 謹慎 / 谨慎 (zh) (jǐnshèn), 慎重 (zh) (shènzhòng) Danish: fornuftig (da), tilrådelig (da) Dutch: voorzichtig (nl), omzichtig (nl), vooruitziend (nl), prudent (nl) Esperanto: prudenta (eo) Finnish: harkitsevainen (fi), varovainen (fi), viisas (fi) French: prudent (fr) Galician: prudente (gl) Georgian: გონივრული (gonivruli), გონებადამჯდარი (gonebadamǯdari), წინდახედული (c̣indaxeduli) German: umsichtig (de), vorsichtig (de) Greek: Ancient: φρόνιμος (phrónimos), (Epic) πινυτός (pinutós) Italian: prudente (it) Japanese: 慎重 (ja) (しんちょう, shinchō) Latin: prūdens, cordātus Macedonian: пре́тпазлив (prétpazliv), благора́зумен (blagorázumen), ра́судлив (rásudliv) Maori: matawhāiti Norwegian: Bokmål: aktsom (no) Occitan: prudent (oc) Polish: przezorny (pl) Portuguese: prudente (pt) Russian: рассуди́тельный (ru) (rassudítelʹnyj), благоразу́мный (ru) (blagorazúmnyj), осторо́жный (ru) (ostoróžnyj) Scottish Gaelic: glic Spanish: prudente (es) Swedish: förtänksam (sv) Turkish: ihtiyatlı (tr), tedbirli (tr), sakıngan (tr), önlemli, sakıntılı (tr)

practically wise, judicious, shrewd — see also prudential

Bulgarian: разсъдлив (bg) (razsǎdliv), пресметлив (bg) (presmetliv) Dutch: slim (nl), sluw (nl), beredeneerd (nl), doordacht (nl) Esperanto: prudenta (eo) Galician: prudente (gl) Georgian: გონივრული (gonivruli), გონებადამჯდარი (gonebadamǯdari), წინდახედული (c̣indaxeduli) Latin: prūdens Macedonian: ра́судлив (rásudliv), пре́сметлив (présmetliv), и́тар (ítar) Maori: matawhāiti Polish: roztropny (pl) Portuguese: prudente (pt) Russian: проница́тельный (ru) (pronicátelʹnyj) Sanskrit: कवि (sa) (kavi) Scottish Gaelic: glic Spanish: prudente (es), criterioso (South America), cauto (es) Swedish: slug (sv), klok (sv) Tocharian B: imassu Turkish: ihtiyatlı (tr), tedbirli (tr)

frugal; economical; not extravagant

Arabic: حَرِيص (ḥarīṣ) Bulgarian: пестелив (bg) (pesteliv) Dutch: zuinig (nl), economisch (nl) Finnish: harkitsevainen (fi) Galician: prudente (gl) Georgian: მომჭირნე (momč̣irne), დამზოგველი (damzogveli), ყაირათიანი (q̇airatiani) Macedonian: ште́длив (štédliv), шкрт (škrt) (colloquial) Portuguese: prudente (pt) Russian: бережли́вый (ru) (berežlívyj), расчётливый (ru) (rasčótlivyj) Spanish: prudente (es) Turkish: tutumlu (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

French: (please verify) prudent (fr) Irish: (please verify) críonna Italian: (please verify) avveduto (it) Spanish: (please verify) atentado (es)

Anagrams

• prunted, uptrend

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin prūdentem.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

prudent m or f (masculine and feminine plural prudents)

1. prudent

Derived terms

• prudentment

Related terms

• prudència

Further reading

• “prudent”, 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
• “prudent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “prudent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “prudent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin prūdentem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁy.dɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Adjective

prudent (feminine prudente, masculine plural prudents, feminine plural prudentes)

1. prudent, careful, cautious

   Antonym: imprudent

Related terms

• prudence

Further reading

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