How to Use careless in a Sentence

careless

adjective
  • She was careless with my things.
  • It was a careless mistake.
  • He is a careless worker.
  • Three heists in the space of a year does start to look careless.
    — Lionel Laurent, Twin Cities, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Who would be so careless to leave such a mess behind?
    — Josh Miller, Southern Living, 12 June 2026
  • Critiquing a careless turnover or dumb shot?
    — Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 25 Dec. 2025
  • One way to stop a careless remark is to take it at face value.
    — Washington Post, 22 Sep. 2020
  • Germany would not be so careless as to make the same mistake.
    — Rory Smith, New York Times, 17 June 2018
  • Too careless with the football.
    — Troy Renck, Denver Post, 22 Dec. 2025
  • This was reckless and careless.
    — Tom Jurkowsky, Baltimore Sun, 25 Apr. 2026
  • The Padres were reckless on the bases one day and careless in the next.
    — Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Aug. 2025
  • In the field and on the bases, careless errors proved costly.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 4 Oct. 2021
  • But being hard on your gear isn’t the same as being careless with your gear.
    — Joe Cermele, Outdoor Life, 7 Dec. 2023
  • Johnson failed to make a run and fell back with careless bogeys along the back nine.
    — Doug Ferguson, orlandosentinel.com, 21 Feb. 2021
  • No steals against the Warriors, who are known to be careless with the ball?
    — Bud Shaw, cleveland.com, 3 June 2017
  • Plus, Dart had a careless fumble.
    — Michael Salfino, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2025
  • Yet George has also never been more careless with the ball than this month.
    — Andrew Greif, Los Angeles Times, 29 Nov. 2021
  • In short, think relaxed—but never careless.
    — Jamie Cuccinelli, Martha Stewart, 23 Apr. 2026
  • And really, who can trust that none of their hundreds of friends is careless?
    — Cynthia Lee, Vox, 18 Apr. 2018
  • The idea that Biden is sometimes careless with his words persists.
    — Author: Neena Satija, Anchorage Daily News, 5 June 2019
  • Careless sure, but the letter was not close to equally as careless.
    — Rebecca Tauber, The Athletic, 31 Dec. 2024
  • Michkov was also his typical careless self with the puck that night, too.
    — Kevin Kurz, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2026
  • For decades, the Mai Tai had been slapped around by careless bartenders.
    — Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 13 Sep. 2025
  • The sound system was too poor, and the announcers were too careless.
    — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 20 Sep. 2021
  • Perez picked off a careless Chacin, who had ventured too far off third base on a ball in the dirt.
    — Rustin Dodd, kansascity.com, 10 June 2017
  • Hopkins was careless with the football, holding it with just one hand.
    — Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 12 Dec. 2022
  • There are downsides to her carefree and careless approach to fame.
    — Julyssa Lopez, Rolling Stone, 20 May 2022
  • The Wolverines have made careless mistakes in each of the three games this past week.
    — Orion Sang, Detroit Free Press, 8 Mar. 2021
  • The error could be something small and careless, like a misspelled name.
    — Washington Post, 11 Feb. 2022
  • This makes the prime minister look weak and careless, rather than strong and stable.
    — Henry Porter, The Hive, 25 May 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'careless.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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