# cautious

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈkɔːʃəs/ · frequency rank #9,717

## Definitions
1. Using or exercising caution; careful; tentative

## Etymology
From caution (“from Latin cautus”) + -ous.

## Easily confused with
- **curious** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cautious-vs-curious)
- **cautiously** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cautious-vs-cautiously)
- **caution** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caution-vs-cautious)

## Common misspellings (10)
`acutious`, `catuious`, `cauitous`, `cautiosu`, `cautiouss`, `cautiuos`, `cautoius`, `cauttious`, `ccautious`, `cuatious`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/cautious