guardedness

noun

as in carefulness
a close attentiveness to avoiding danger you should have shown a little more guardedness about sharing personal information with someone you just met online

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of guardedness Marina, for her part, reacts to every new face and each fresh piece of information with an instinctive guardedness—and Garcia illuminates, with an almost sphinx-like half smile, the preternatural reserve of someone who’s grown up knowing not to expect too much from people. — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 26 June 2026 What stayed with the character was that guardedness, that way of seeing the world, the mistrust. — Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 26 Dec. 2025 Thankfully, her guardedness with the public hasn’t prevented her from being warm and open in person. — Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 25 Nov. 2025 Making guardedness and affable self-deprecation part of her identity, Keaton was known for wearing turtlenecks, gloves, and hats that kept her largely covered up, saving emotional vulnerability for her performances. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 11 Oct. 2025 At this point, arguments become a predictable mix of hostility, guardedness and mockery. — Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for guardedness
  1. carefulness
  2. caution
  3. care
  4. prudence
  5. wariness
  6. attentiveness
  7. cautiousness
  8. circumspection
Noun
  • This carefulness is clearly strategic.
    — Gary Sernovitz, New Yorker, 15 June 2026
  • There was no carefulness in it.
    — Zack Meisel, New York Times, 1 May 2026
Definition of carefulness
Noun
  • For now, video officials will be limited to categorical errors, such as a second caution given to a player for handball when replays prove the ball hit them in the face.
    — Graham Scott, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Take caution when walking around here; the rocks can be slippery and waves have swept people out to sea.
    — Catherine Garcia, TheWeek, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of caution
Noun
  • But even when care is available, stigma can still present a huge barrier.
    — Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN Money, 23 Aug. 2026
  • Alja, who works at an elder care facility, is a bit too eager to host the freeloading Maruša.
    — Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of care
Noun
  • Short-term rates went to 5% and change, Treasury bills paid more than investment grade corporates, and savers who had spent fifteen years being punished for prudence suddenly got paid handsomely for doing nothing.
    — Jason Kirsch, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
  • In those conditions, United’s prudence makes financial sense.
    — Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of prudence
Noun
  • During our conversation, Goldfarb seems attuned to the wariness but prepared with counterpoints.
    — José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Disheveled and brutish, Niaz is routinely greeted by his peers with wariness and surprise, his star faded by what is heavily suggested to be his own doing.
    — Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of wariness
Noun
  • For instance, Sentry works with trucking clients to improve driver ergonomics to enhance attentiveness and focus, which Zernicke says is a high-return-on-investment for fleet operators.
    — Sentry Insurance, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Throughout the studies, participants also reported less daytime sleepiness, less frequent muscle weakness, and greater attentiveness.
    — Elaine Chen, STAT, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of attentiveness
Noun
  • There used to be a cautiousness in rolling out new technology.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 8 Apr. 2026
  • One key reason for his cautiousness is the financial burden.
    — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 27 Feb. 2026
Definition of cautiousness
Noun
  • Faragna motioned to Nardulli to step to one side and spoke into his ear with circumspection.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 7 Aug. 2026
  • The machine moves with circumspection, as if consciousness had just been ensouled in a new body.
    — Stephen Witt, New Yorker, 6 July 2026
Definition of circumspection

Browse Nearby Words

guardedly
guardedness
guardhouse
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Cite this Entry

“Guardedness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/guardedness. Accessed 25 Aug. 2026.

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