imprudence means the quality or state of being imprudent; lack of prudence, caution, discretion or circumspection. It carries an Arena rating of 1652, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, imprudence ranks #3,602 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #3,782 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #5,671 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #7,374 of 17,131 for Scariest Words.
imprudence is pronounced /ɪmˈpɹuːdn̩s/.
Why “imprudence” is a great word
The quality of acting without foresight, caution, or discretion, born from the Latin imprudentia, from im- ("not") + prudentia ("foresight"), and first attested in English in the early 15th century. Unlike "indiscretion," which hints at a social misstep, or "recklessness," which implies a defiant rush toward peril, imprudence is the quieter folly of poor calculation. It is the unguarded word that unravels a friendship, the uninsured heirloom left on a crowded train, and the second glass of wine before a long drive home—the small, cumulative error that the future, with cold arithmetic, will correct.
Etymology
From im- + prudence. From Middle French imprudence, from Latin imprudentia.
noun
- The quality or state of being imprudent; lack of prudence, caution, discretion or circumspection.e.g.“[Hamilton were to have said:] nothing but a permanent body can check the imprudence of democracy.” — 1861, Jonathan Elliot, Debates of State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, vol. I, page 422:
- An imprudent act.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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