Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Presumptuously or recklessly bold; rash or reckless: synonym: reckless.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Heedless or careless of consequences; unreasonably venturous; reckless; headstrong; inconsiderate; rash; careless.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Unreasonably adventurous; despising danger; rash; headstrong; audacious; reckless; heedless.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Recklessly daring or bold

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective presumptuously daring

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Latin temerārius, from temere, rashly.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin temerārius ("that happens by chance, imprudent"), from temerē ("by chance, at random, rashly").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word temerarious.

Examples

  • It was a "temerarious" task to attempt to revive the types which, from the days of Harrison's _Essayists_, had occupied so many of the earlier illustrators.

    De Libris: Prose and Verse Austin Dobson 1880

  • IV, vi) before his elevation to the pontificate did hold the opinion, which later theologians branded as "temerarious", that Christ consecrated without words by means of the mere "benediction".

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 5: Diocese-Fathers of Mercy 1840-1916 1913

  • I pray you do not think it temerarious of me to submit my novel, THE RAVENOUS WEREWOLF, for your perusal.

    We Love You! 2009

  • It's hard to believe how temerarious he can be, but he approached the beleaguered wunderkind and made the provocative suggestion that he buy his idiosyncratic widget-maker at an exorbitant rate.

    We Love You! 2009

  • While the idiosyncratic werewolf ordered kung pao, Johnny Contrary the provocative wunderkind exclaimed under his breath -- "... the nefarious Dr. Profligate is a temerarious fool if he thinks his legions will march unopposed into the beleaguered capital city!"

    We Love You! 2009

  • I am a beleagured writer who is sick of temerarious editors that don't even bother to read my provacative (and a little idiosyncratic) first novel, Willy Wunderkind, a horror/romance for children.

    We Love You! 2009

  • His only hope is to use the idiosyncratic patterns of the werewolves to his own advantage, employing a temerarious plan that will end with hungry teeth at his throat … or a silver bullet in the heart of the Fuhrer.

    We Love You! 2009

  • My boss, nefarious nazi that he was, seemed to take it easier on his poor beleaguered employees if we dressed in the latest temerarious fashions.

    We Love You! 2009

  • Père did insist on feeding potato chips to a temerarious chipmunk, over our objections.

    Stuff We Did On Our Vacation, Part One; Or, A Pictorial Essay on Vampire Habitats 2010

  • This is temerarious of me, but the provocative manner with which you eat your fried chicken lifts my beleaguered heart.

    We Love You! 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.


  • The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her Last Berth to be broken up, 1838
    Turner

    August 26, 2008

  • This was like Flickr – with the photo!

    June 23, 2009

  • Used by Boris Johnson on the Today Programme on Radio 4 (perhaps to distract from a relatively thin argument), no doubt sending many listeners rushing to their dictionaries.

    May 11, 2016