heedless

Etymology

It is formed from English heed + -less.^[2][3][4] The noun heed apparently comes from the verb, and has no corresponding Old English noun;^[2][3] the verb is from Old English hēdan (“to observe, take care of”),^[5][3][2][6] from Proto-West Germanic *hōdjan,^[2][3] a derivative of the noun behind Old High German huota (“protection, care”) and German Hut.^[2][6] Its cognates include Old Saxon hōdian, Old Frisian hōda, Dutch hoeden, huotan and German hüten (“to guard, watch”).^[2][3][6] Etymonline takes it back to Proto-Indo-European *kadh- (“to shelter, cover”),^[3] and Klein relates it to hood.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Paying no attention, careless: Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1565,^[7] Etymonline to the 1570s,^[3] and the OED's first record is in Spenser's Shepheardes Calender (1579).^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first sense.^[2][7] Johnson (1755) defined it as negligent, inattentive, careless and thoughtless, and his 1773 edition adds that it is used with of, as in Dryden's "heedless of verse".^[8] For a short time it could also describe something undeserving of attention, recorded in John Speed in 1612.^[2] Spenser also has the noun heedlesshood.^[3]

Timeline

• 1565 – paying no heed, careless.^[7] The OED's first record is from 1579.^[2]
• 1612 – undeserving of attention (now obsolete).^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Paying little or no attention; careless or unmindful, often with of: Heedless of the warnings, the two hikers kept climbing.^[9][7][5][2]

Word family

• heedlessly
• heedlessness

Related words

• heed
• heedful
• hood
• hat

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins