caution
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Prudence when faced with, or when expecting to face.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kahshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɑʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Prudence when faced with, or when expecting to face, danger; care taken in order to avoid risk or harm.
A careful attention to the probable effects of an act, in order that failure or harm may be avoided.
law
A formal warning given as an alternative to prosecution in minor cases.
Security; guaranty; bail.
verb
Warn strongly; put on guard
transitive
To warn; to alert, advise that caution is warranted.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Prudence when faced with, or when expecting to face, danger; care taken in order to avoid risk or harm.
Used this way, caution is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use caution
- “He exercised caution in opening the door.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.