Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The state, quality, or fact of being prudent.
- n. Careful management; economy.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The quality of being prudent. Practical wisdom; discretion; good judgment; sagacity.
- n. Regard for self-interest; worldly wisdom; policy.
- n. Knowledge; science. Compare jurisprudence.
- n. Synonyms Discretion, Providence, etc. (see wisdom), judiciousness, care, considerateness, caution, circumspection, judgment, wariness.
Wiktionary
- n. The quality or state of being prudent; wisdom in the way of caution and provision; discretion; carefulness; hence, also, economy; frugality.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The quality or state of being prudent; wisdom in the way of caution and provision; discretion; carefulness; hence, also, economy; frugality.
WordNet 3.0
- n. knowing how to avoid embarrassment or distress
- n. discretion in practical affairs
Etymologies
- From Old French prudence. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“And Zeno of Cittium seems to incline somewhat to the same view, as he defines prudence in distribution as justice, in choice as self-control, in endurance as fortitude: and those who defend these views maintain that by the term prudence Zeno means knowledge.”
“Says it's logical for McCain to show what he called prudence in the election cycle.”
“In what we call prudence, caution, and care, fear undoubtedly plays some part, and”
“Our ethical conduct and fiscal prudence is beyond reproach.”
The Huffington Post: David Paul: The Problem Is Not Jon Stewart
“The baseball analogy is inexact; drugs have been pushed out of sports not by a sudden increase in prudence, but by a testing-and-punishment regime that would be excessive in the typical workplace.”
“Work, depending on temperance and prudence, is desirable to create and acquire the property.”
In Praise of Temperance, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“One common way of denying that prudence is required for leadership is to cast political decisions as essentially easy.”
“But deep down even bleeding hearts subscribe to my insensitive theory that - at least in the First World - ordinary prudence is enough to keep almost anyone out of poverty.”
“But the ECB fears that this effort by the authorities to demand greater prudence from the banks could actually push them into taking greater risks as they try to seek out profits.”
The Wall Street Journal: We've Heard All This Before From BP
“For Chile's governing Concertación coalition, prudence is providing a belated political boost.”
The ultimate counter-cyclical asset: A prudent politician's popularity
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘prudence’.
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BUDG - general terms
Budgetese - not a sexy topic but a very comprehensive list of words and collocations used in EU circles. Budgeting experts please comment and expand.
heading, across-the-board ..., emergency reserve, frontload, mopping-up, performance reserve, positive margin, negative margin, public finances, structural operat..., administrative ex..., management of EU ... and 657 more...
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INTA - WTO
Blair House Agree..., Generalised Syste..., third-country mar..., transition period, blue box, blue box measures, GATT, TRIPS, C sugar, Everything But Ar..., WTO-compatible ag..., export refund and 176 more...
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CONT - general terms
additionality, audit trail, accounting standards, auditing standards, general audit obj..., a posteriori audit, a priori audit, above board, acceptable error ..., access rights, accountability, accountable entities and 1283 more...
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Words related to knowledge
Words that relate to learning, knowing, being enlightened...
revelation, eureka, awakening, idea, sapient, astute, canny, intelligent, wise, sharp, shrewd, informed and 467 more...
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songbirds
Names of girls in song titles. Not in the lyrics, just in the titles.
Just the name on the list, then the full title with any identifying notes in the comments, please.
Can be the same ...marianne, evie, lady d'arbanville, peggy sue, suzanne, dianne, boni maroni, miss molly, lola, mony, sadie, rita and 206 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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2nd part
prelude, ample, escalate, prototype, accession, acquisition, archives, zealot, indict, verdict, intimidating, timid and 454 more...
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FUN - Beatles song titles
Typical words from Beatles song titles. Can you recreate the titles?
(Grammatical words have been omitted)polythene, Sun King, rhythm and blues, taxman, tripper, monkey business, mailman, matchbox, rock and roll, ooh, blue jay, reprise and 388 more...
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EU Buzz - single words (1+2+3)
1. Strictly EU terms with special European meaning used only in the EU
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2. Keywords central to the understanding of the EU (people working for the EU are usually able to give thematic...acceleration, action, additionality, administrator, agenda, agricultural, agri-environmental, agriflation, agri-food, applicant, approach, assent and 1325 more...
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Girls I wouldn't go out with
Nomen omen
chastity, faith, prudence, constance, virginia, rythm belcher, nutcracker, goldie lock, medusa, circe, delilah, charybdis and 47 more...
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Ideas
brainchild, inspiration, muse, genius, eureka, discovery, intellectual prop..., intangible asset, goodwill, patented, savant, brainiac and 76 more...
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The Golden Rule
TABLE OF PROPOSED RULES TO LIVE BY
The Golden Rule Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
The Silver Rule Do not do unto others what you would not have them do un...ethics, reciprocity, silver rule, karma, tit for tat, newton's third law, virtue, temperance, fortitude, prudence, justice, humanity and 44 more...
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funny names
funny names
gertrude, vernon, clarence, stanley, edwick, edwick the dead cow, bert, sebastian, yngwie, cliff, gary, barbara and 59 more...
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Words To Use In Creative Writing
hag-ridden, light-heeled, wendigo, longshanks, fatuous, insipid, sodden, bulging, sycophantic, uncourtly, gauche, assuasive and 102 more...
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Advanced Words: Part II
facetious, felicitous, grandiloquent, germane, repatriate, exigency, exculpate, etheral, fatuous, heterogeneous, hiatus, idiosyncrasy and 118 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for prudence.
gangerh 'Dear Prudence' - The Beatles. Feb 8, 2008
chained_bear I never really liked it, but now that it seems to be associated with former president George H.W. Bush, I hardly ever hear it anymore. Though actually that word is more properly prudent, not prudence... Jan 6, 2008
sonofgroucho I used to like this word, but, for various reasons, it now reminds me of UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who I am finding increasingly disappointing and irritating! Jan 6, 2008