cautious
/ˈkɔːʃəs/adjective
cautious is spelled C-A-U-T-I-O-U-S: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 6.2 times per million words in written English, the 9,735th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, cautious means “Using or exercising caution; careful; tentative” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in cautious?
| Letters | 8: C-A-U-T-I-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 6.2 times per million words; the 9,735th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is cautious?
Cautious appears 6.2 times per million words in written English, the 9,735th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cautious?
- UK /ˈkɔːʃəs/
- British /ˈkoːʃəs/
- /ˈkɔʃəs/
Cautious has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-cautious.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of cautious
- more cautious comparative
- most cautious superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cautious mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Using or exercising caution; careful; tentative
He took a few cautious steps toward the cave.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cautious in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense careful:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | prudent |
| German | vorsichtig, zaghaft, behutsam |
| Portuguese | cuidadoso, cauteloso |
| Spanish | cauto, cauteloso, precavido |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does cautious come from?
From cauti(on) + -ous. Compare Latin cautus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).