providere

to foresee; provide

1 / 1

White man steps onto a visibly cracked ladder ignoring its weakness.

noun

imprudence

im-PROO-dunts/ɪmˈpruːdns/

Lack of sensible caution or practical judgment.

Etymology

imLatinnot; without

+prudLatinto foresee; provide

+enceLatina state or quality

The base means 'to foresee,' so imprudence originally expresses a lack of foresight. That connects heedlessness about what may happen with the present sense of poor judgment or insufficient caution.

Full entry

Related word entries

imprudence