Reckless

How to spell reckless

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce reckless

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does reckless mean?

1. adjectiveActing without thinking about or caring about the consequences or danger.

Reckless in a sentence

• The insurer refused the claim after deciding the driving had been reckless.

• Investing the family savings on a single rumour was a reckless move.

Where does reckless come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends directly from Old English, where reccelēas meant 'careless' or 'heedless'. It is built from the old verb reccan, meaning 'to care about' or 'to take heed of', joined to the familiar suffix -less, meaning 'without'. So a reckless person is, quite literally, someone 'without care'. The verb reck has almost entirely vanished from modern English, surviving only in this fossil word and in the rare poetic phrase 'it recks not' (it matters not), which is why reckless can feel oddly rootless to modern eyes. A useful spelling note: there is no 'w' at the start, even though many writers are tempted by 'wreckless' through association with 'wreck'; the connection is false, since the word has nothing to do with wreckage and everything to do with not caring.

How the word is built

• reck (Old English reccan: to care, to heed)
• -less (without)