deliberate

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj

Done on purpose; intentional.
Formed with deliberation; carefully considered; not sudden or rash.
Of a person, weighing facts and arguments with a view to a choice or decision; carefully considering the probable consequences of a step; slow in determining.
Not hasty or sudden; slow.

verb

To consider carefully; to weigh well in the mind.
To consider the reasons for and against anything; to reflect.

Pronunciation

dĭlĭbʹ(ə)rət /dɪˈlɪb.(ə.)ɹət/ /dɪˈlɪb.ɚ.ət/ en-us-deliberate-adj.ogg dəlĭbʹ(ə)rət /dəˈlɪb.ɚ.ət/ /dəˈlɪb.(ə.)ɹət/ /dəˈləb.(ə.)ɹət/ dĭlĭbʹərāt /dɪˈlɪb.ə.ɹeɪt/ /dɪˈlɪb.ɚ.eɪt/ en-us-deliberate-verb.ogg dəlĭbʹərāt /dəˈlɪb.ə.ɹeɪt/ /dəˈlɪb.ɚ.eɪt/ /dəˈlɪb.ə.ɹæɪt/ /dəˈləb.ə.ɹæɪt/

Word forms

deliberate more deliberate most deliberate deliberates deliberating deliberated

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English deliberat(e), borrowed from Latin dēlīberātus, perfect passive participle of dēlīberō (“to consider, weigh well”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from dē- + *līberō / lībrō (“to weigh”)), from *libera / libra (“a balance”); see librate. Doublet of deliber.

Synonyms

purposeful volitional advertent conscious witting deliberate intentional on purpose purposive volitational voluntary wilful careful cautious well-advised alert attentive cautelous canny chary circumspect conservative discreet guarded heedful heedy hesitant meticulous mindful prudent reckful safe sensible shy slow tentative timid timorous wary thoughtful Synonyms: see Thesaurus:ponder

Antonyms

unintentional unwitting

Related words

deliberation deliberative

Derived words

deliberately deliberateness deliberate smoke indeliberate nondeliberate overdeliberate predeliberate undeliberate deliberator nondeliberating redeliberate undeliberating

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

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