regardless

Etymology

It is formed from English regard + -less.^[2][3][4][5] The noun is from Old French regard, from regarder (“to take notice of”), from re- and garder (“to look, heed”), which comes from a Germanic language.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Unregarded, slighted, not worthy of regard: 1557, in the Songes and Sonettes of the Earl of Surrey and others.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates this sense to about 1542.^[6] Etymonline and Dictionary.com date the word from the 1590s and 1585–95, with the sense "not heeding".^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The word first looked in both directions: what is not regarded by others (obsolete by 1853) and a person who pays no regard, from 1578.^[2][4] Only the second has lasted, and it is the one Johnson (1755) gave: "heedless; negligent; inattentive".^[7] Regardful is recorded from the 1580s.^[3] The construction with of, meaning irrespective of, appears in 1837.^[2] The bare adverb, at first American, appears in 1872 in Mark Twain's Roughing It: elliptical for regardless of consequences or, in early use, of expense.^[2][3][6] It now also means simply "nonetheless".^[2][8] In Scots the adjective also meant reckless of public opinion, and could stand as a noun for such people.^[9]

Timeline

• 1557 – unregarded, slighted (obsolete by 1853).^[2]
• 1578 – heedless, indifferent, careless, in Golding's translation of Seneca.^[2]
• 1837 – regardless of, irrespective of.^[2]
• 1872 – adverb, placed after what it qualifies: despite the cost or the consequences.^[2][3][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Taking no heed; careless or indifferent; usually with of: She drove on, regardless of the warning signs.^[8][6][2]
2. (obsolete, 1557–1853) Not worth regard; slighted.^[2][4] Merriam-Webster Unabridged labels this sense archaic.^[6]

Adverb

1. In spite of everything; nonetheless: The rain got worse, but the crew kept working regardless.^[8][6][2]
2. regardless of: without taking account of; irrespective of: open to all regardless of age.^[2][8]

Word family

• regardlessly
• regardlessness

Related words

• regard
• regardful
• irregardless

Usage notes

The word lies behind nonstandard irregardless, probably a blend with irrespective.^[3][2][6] Its double negative of ir- and -less is the reason for the objection to it.^[5] Dates for it vary: Etymonline has 1838, Merriam-Webster Unabridged 1795, and Dictionary.com 1910–15.^[3][6][5]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)