different between headless vs careless

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?h?dl?s/

Etymology

From Middle English heedles, hevedles, from Old English h?afodl?as (“headless”), equivalent to head +? -less. Cognate with Dutch hoofdloos (“headless”), Danish hovedløs (“headless”), Swedish huvudlös (“headless”), Icelandic höfuðlaus (“headless”).

Adjective

headless (not comparable)

1. Without a head; decapitated.

   How did the headless horseman see to chase Ichabod?

2. Without leadership.

   The headless army blundered along after the death of their general, accomplishing nothing.

   • His forsaken soldiers, being now a headless company, and no longer an army to be feared, obtained nevertheless a reasonable composition from the Carthaginians […]

3. (linguistics, of a phrase or compound) Not having a head morpheme or word.
4. (computing) Running without a graphical user interface; running without any attached output device (e.g., monitor) or input device (e.g., keyboard, mouse).
   • 2003, William Boswell, Inside Windows Server 2003, Addison-Wesley, ?ISBN, page 62:

     /redirect. Used for console redirection in headless servers.

   • 2007, Carla Schroder, Linux Networking Cookbook, O’Reilly Media (2008), ?ISBN, page 47:

     Routers typically run headless, without a keyboard or monitor.

   • 2010, Charles Bell et al., MySQL High Availability: Tools for Building Robust Data Centers, O'Reilly Media, ?ISBN, page 278:

     This is not unexpected for a Windows system running as a virtual machine or a headless server […]

5. (of beer) Without a head of foam.
6. (obsolete) Heedless.
   • 1579, E. K. (Edward Kirke ?), Notes on Spenser’s The Shepheardes Calender

     If any one will rashly blame such his choice of old and unwonted words, him may I more justly blame and condemn, either of witless headiness in judging, or of headless hardiness in condemning.

   • 1579, Edmund Spenser, The Shepherd’s Calendar, John Ball, London, published 1732

     THENOT: Cuddy, I wot thou ken?t little Good, / So vainly to advance thy headle?s Hood.

Derived terms

• headlessly
• headlessness
• run around like a headless chicken

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle English careles, from Old English carl?as (“careless, reckless, void of care, free from care, free”), equivalent to care +? -less. Cognate with Icelandic kærulaus (“careless, negligent”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k??l?s/, /?k??l?s/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?k??l?s/
• Rhymes: -??(?)l?s

Adjective

careless (comparative more careless, superlative most careless)

1. Not concerned or worried (about). [from 11^thc.]

   • "He was here," observed Drina composedly, "and father was angry with him."
     "What?" exclaimed Eileen. "When?"
     "This morning, before father went downtown."
     Both Selwyn and Lansing cut in coolly, dismissing the matter with a careless word or two; and coffee was served—cambric tea in Drina's case.

2. Not giving sufficient attention or thought, especially concerning the avoidance of harm or mistakes. [from 16^thc.]
   • 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, p. 49:

     I don't find the pose of careless youth charming and engaging any more than you find the pose of careworn age fascinating and eccentric, I should imagine.

3. (archaic) Free from care; unworried, without anxiety. [from 11^thc.]

   • Good-humored, easy, and careless, he presided over his whale-boat as if the most deadly encounter were but a dinner, and his crew all invited guests.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:careless

Derived terms

• carelessly
• carelessness

Translations

Anagrams

• acreless, raceless, rescales