Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
careful (adjective)1.
archaic
a) - solicitous anxious
b) filling with care or solicitude
2.
exercising or taking care
3.
a) marked by attentive concern and solicitude
b) marked by wary caution or prudence - be very careful with knives
c) marked by painstaking effort to avoid errors or omissions - often used with of or an infinitive careful of money careful to adjust the machine
Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus
careful (adjective)1.
having or showing a close attentiveness to avoiding danger or trouble
SYNONIMS:
alert, cautious, chary, circumspect, conservative, considerate, gingerly, guarded, heedful, safe, waryRELATED WORDS:
advertent, attentive, awake, observant, regardful, vigilant, watchful; hypercautious; foresighted, foresightful, forethoughtful, provident, thoughtful; cagey ( cagy), calculating, canny, shrewd; deliberate, slow; ultracareful, ultracautiousNEAR ANTONYMS:
bold, brash, impetuous, rash, reckless, venturesome; asleep, inattentive, regardless; inconsiderate, thoughtless; lax, neglectful, negligent, remiss; imprudent, indiscreet, injudicious; absentminded, forgetful; inadvertent, unintentional, unplanned2.
taking, showing, or involving great care and effort
SYNONIMS:
careful, conscientious, fussy, loving, meticulous, scrupulousRELATED WORDS:
assiduous, diligent, indefatigable, persevering, sedulous; exhaustive, thorough, thoroughgoing; alert, attentive, observant, vigilant, watchful; accurate, exact, precise, strict; critical, demanding, discriminating, exacting, fastidious, finicky, particular; cautious, chary, circumspect, gingerly, guarded, heedful, mindful, wary; deliberate, plodding, slow; studied, thoughtful; all-out, determined, dogged, intensive, patient, tenacious, tireless, zealousNEAR ANTONYMS:
cursory, halfhearted; heedless, inattentive, incautious, mindless, regardless, unguarded, unsafe, unwary; lax, neglectful, negligent, slipshod, sloppy, slovenly; imprecise; inaccurate, uncritical, undemanding, undiscriminating; bold, impetuous, rash, reckless; apathetic, indifferent, lackadaisical, lazy, lazyish