improvident

[ im-prov-i-duhnt ]
See synonyms for improvident on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. not provident; lacking foresight; incautious; unwary.

  2. neglecting to provide for future needs.

Origin of improvident

1
First recorded in 1505–15; im-2 + provident

Other words for improvident

Opposites for improvident

Other words from improvident

  • im·prov·i·dence, noun
  • im·prov·i·dent·ly, adverb

Words Nearby improvident

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use improvident in a sentence

  • Government nurtured these behemoths by weaving an improvident safety net, and by practicing crony capitalism.

    Break Up the Banks? | Megan McArdle | February 11, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • The old elite worried that the masses were too improvident and seditious.

    The New Heat Center | Michael Lind | January 19, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Then as the sober days of manhood came, and Landy witnessed the finish of the improvident and foolish, he began to save and skimp.

    David Lannarck, Midget | George S. Harney
  • How ridiculously improvident it was of the curate and Emily Gibson to fall in love with one another, wisdom could testify.

  • He is dutiful to his father, the improvident, though ambitious Charles Mari de Buonaparte.

    Napoleon's Young Neighbor | Helen Leah Reed
  • In those days the people were poor and improvident, and a single failure in their crops left them in a sorry condition.

    Unveiling a Parallel | Alice Ilgenfritz Jones and Ella Marchant
  • She found, to her dismay, that this was owing to their having eaten all the seed potatoes,—that last lapse of the improvident.

British Dictionary definitions for improvident

improvident

/ (ɪmˈprɒvɪdənt) /


adjective
  1. not provident; thriftless, imprudent, or prodigal

  2. heedless or incautious; rash

Derived forms of improvident

  • improvidence, noun
  • improvidently, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012