carelessly

adverb

as in casually

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of carelessly Jasson Domínguez, still a liability on defense, carelessly let a leadoff single bounce past him and roll to the wall in right for a two-base error, but Cole managed to strand the runner at third and logged a scoreless frame. — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 6 Sep. 2026 Omar Alderete, O’Nien’s second-half replacement, carelessly did the same thing for the late winner. — Stuart James, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026 Since it was designated the first national recreation area in 1964, hordes of visitors have cut Lake Mead’s glassy surface with jet skis and boats, carelessly dropping belongings that may now wash up on shore. — Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026 Kylese Perryman claims his rights were violated, saying investigators carelessly and incorrectly identified him as the man responsible for a violent felony. — Ubah Ali, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026 The cameras can also help drivers parallel park or ensure a kid’s bike wasn’t left carelessly in the driveway. — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2026 Each model can be useful, and each creates different risks when applied carelessly. — Keith Ferrazzi, Fortune, 4 Aug. 2026 But when leaders use them carelessly, employees may internalize a meaning the leader never intended. — Cheryl Robinson, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026 The Dirties includes a scene where Johnson’s out-of-touch high-school character is in blackface, while the Nirvanna web series has bits that carelessly chase juvenile provocation, including stray uses of racial accents and slurs. — Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 29 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for carelessly
  1. casually
  2. indiscriminately
  3. arbitrarily
  4. capriciously
  5. promiscuously
  6. haphazardly
  7. whimsically
  8. informally
Adverb
  • Unfortunately, there are too many cases in which an individual is chosen casually and lacks the necessary skills.
    — Elliot Raphaelson, The Orlando Sentinel, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Chromebooks casually offer a handful of advantages over regular computers, starting with faster startup times and response rates.
    — George Yang, PC Magazine, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of casually
Adverb
  • People get overexcited about the latest breakthrough and begin investing indiscriminately in the companies driving the innovation.
    — RUCHIR SHARMA, Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The suspect appeared to have fired indiscriminately at students in a classroom next to his own after leaving his Grade 9 classroom, Palencia said in a separate interview with local DZBB radio.
    — CNN Money, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of indiscriminately
Adverb
  • The original 1971 experiment was conducted by psychology professor Philip Zimbardo, who arbitrarily split volunteers into two groups—inmates and guards—and observed how power corrupted them.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Mykola Murskyj, senior adviser on policy and strategy at the nonprofit organization Razom for Ukraine, told the Washington Examiner that Zelensky isn’t just arbitrarily clinging to power — the entire country is wary of voting during wartime.
    — Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of arbitrarily
Adverb
  • Permits that are granted and withdrawn capriciously, tax credits that come and go, technologies that fall in or out of favor in successive administrations, and endless legal battles all amount to dangerous barriers to investment.
    — Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 16 Apr. 2026
  • That standard would uphold the NCAA’s interpretation of the waiver rule so long as the NCAA didn’t act arbitrarily or capriciously, either of which is difficult to show.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 27 Jan. 2026
Definition of capriciously
Adverb
  • Huxley’s critique is clear; America mistakes body for spirit, promiscuously confusing the physical with the metaphysical.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 21 May 2026
  • Political factions are steered by big personalities, and politicians jump promiscuously between parties.
    — BEN BLAND, Foreign Affairs, 13 Feb. 2024
Definition of promiscuously
Adverb
  • Each of the nine beauty favorites below can be haphazardly thrown from your vanity into your bag and through TSA.
    — ElleAnna Revell, Condé Nast Traveler, 14 Oct. 2026
  • The absence of a living monarch on our money, or on our travel documents, was not an accident haphazardly arrived at but a declaration of equality meant to be flourished and displayed.
    — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of haphazardly
Adverb
  • Sculptures whimsically assembled from chairs, lamps, and a filing cabinet pulled from Cultural Center storage get roped off by floor tape that cleverly extends the artworks themselves, upending standard museum practice while also sticking to it.
    — Lori Waxman, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Out in the high desert near Cabazon, my favorite stops are Hadley’s Fruit Orchards, home of the famous Hadley date shakes, and the whimsically Cabazon Dinosaur sculptors.
    — Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2026
Definition of whimsically
Adverb
  • And Jeremy Allen White is Jeff Horwitz, the Wall Street Journal tech reporter with whom Haugen collaborates on an explosive series of articles informally titled The Facebook Files, exposing the toxic culture behind the company’s stratospheric reach.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Much of this is processed informally, where workers can be exposed to toxic substances while recovering valuable metals such as gold and silver.
    — Aniruddha Ghosal, Chicago Tribune, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of informally

Browse Nearby Words

careless
carelessly
carelessness
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Cite this Entry

“Carelessly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/carelessly. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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