devil-may-careadj.n.
/ˌdɛvlmeɪˈkɛː/, /ˈdɛvlmeɪkɛː/, U.S. /ˌdɛv(ə)lˌmeɪˈkɛ(ə)r/ A. adj.
Cheerfully reckless; carefree.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > incautiousness > [adjective] > rash or reckless
recklesseOE
redmodOE
unreckless?c1225
hastivec1300
racklec1300
testyc1374
rabbisha1387
temeraryc1410
temerous1461
rash1509
temerarious1532
hare-brained1548
temerarec1550
hare-brain1566
hot-spurred1573
overrash1577
hotspur1586
madcap1591
wretchless1598
Phaetontic1608
zeal-blind1615
Phaetontal1617
unresponsable1619
Phaetontical1630
phaetonicala1640
Phaetonic1708
hell-bent1731
harum-scarum1751
unresponsible1764
suicidal1768
rumgumptious1781
shy1787
devil-may-care1799
bullheaded1818
devil-may-carish1825
temeritous1892
kamikaze1952
1799 ‘A Mimber’ Unconnected Hints upon Union 2 These I shall treat promiscuously, as it were, and in a devil-may-care way.
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xlviii. 525 He was a mighty, free and easy, roving, devil-may-care sort of person.
1859 E. Bulwer-Lytton What will he do with It? (1st Edinb. ed.) I. ii. ii. 136 He..looked altogether as devil-me-care, rakehelly, handsome, good-for-nought, as ever swore at a drawer.
1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. I. xi. 206 A face radiant with devil-may-care delight.
1887 W. M. Rossetti Life Keats v. 80 Without any aggressive or ‘devil-may-care’ addenda.
1941 C. Beaton Diary Apr. in Self Portrait with Friends (1979) xi. 82 Erratic feats of devil-may-care recklessness are less admired today than..calculated courage.
1976 R. K. Narayan Painter of Signs (1982) i. 20 Surviving with the help of a double-barrelled gun and a devil-may-care attitude.
2006 A. Goodman Intuition ii. iii. 61 He seemed dashing in his scruffiness—devil-may-care and pirate-like.
B. n.
1. Cheerful recklessness; the attitude or quality of being devil-may-care.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > incautiousness > [noun] > rashness or recklessness
recklessnessOE
resec1275
outragea1387
rechelesshipc1390
wantonnessc1390
hastivessa1393
recklesslaika1400
racklenessc1405
recklessheadc1410
headiness1447
temerity?a1475
lavishness1477
hastivitya1500
rashnessa1500
Ate1587
temerousness1598
temeritude1623
wretchlessness1625
hare-brainedness1656
rantum-scantum1695
temerariousness1711
blindness1796
devil-may-carishness1829
devil-may-careness1834
devil-may-care1836
rattle-brain1838
devil-may-careism1841
bullheadedness1858
harum-scarumness1863
madcappery1905
1836 E. A. Poe Autography in Southern Literary Messenger Aug. 604/2 Some of the characters have now and then a little twirl, llike the tail of a pig—which gives the MS. an air of the quizzical, and devil-me-care.
1865 Examiner 4 Feb. 66/1 Their heads full of wool, their hearts full of devil-may-care, and their pockets full of empty space.
1928 Manch. Guardian Weekly 21 Sept. 230/3 An air of devil-may-care.
1997 Daily Mail 15 Jan. 15/2 Despite all the bravado and devil-may-care..there was a sensitive girl..who was probably as emotionally damaged as I was.
2. A devil-may-care person.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > incautiousness > [noun] > rashness or recklessness > rash or reckless person
bayard1393
hotspur1403
hare-brain1542
young blood1557
hare-copa1566
madcap1589
rashling1594
breakneck1598
harum-scarum1784
wild cat1812
devil-may-care1839
firecracker1852
ripper1877
wild-catter1883
1839 C. G. F. Gore Cabinet Minister I. iv. 57 Such tumultuous companions as Tom Hounslow, Lord Marytown, and a few similar associates, dignified by the title of the Devil-may-cares.
1857 G. W. Thornbury Songs of Cavaliers & Roundheads 120 I and some seventy devil-may-cares Rode to Bristol.
1903 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang VII. 150/1 Tom Astoner, a dashing fellow; a bold blade; a devil-may-care.
2010 Weekend Post (Cairns, Queensland) (Nexis) 23 Oct. (Weekender section) 3 I had come to the north to be among the yahoos, the devil-may-cares, the laconic types who like living among strange creatures and weird plants.
Derivatives
devil-may-ˈcareness n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > incautiousness > [noun] > rashness or recklessness
recklessnessOE
resec1275
outragea1387
rechelesshipc1390
wantonnessc1390
hastivessa1393
recklesslaika1400
racklenessc1405
recklessheadc1410
headiness1447
temerity?a1475
lavishness1477
hastivitya1500
rashnessa1500
Ate1587
temerousness1598
temeritude1623
wretchlessness1625
hare-brainedness1656
rantum-scantum1695
temerariousness1711
blindness1796
devil-may-carishness1829
devil-may-careness1834
devil-may-care1836
rattle-brain1838
devil-may-careism1841
bullheadedness1858
harum-scarumness1863
madcappery1905
1834 Metropolitan Mag. 10 172 The ‘devil-may-care-ness’ of the upper ranks.
1890 J. H. McCarthy Fr. Revol. I. 22 The wantonness, the licence, the devil-may-careness of the Regency.
2008 Vogue 1 Apr. 142/2 All the things you said I couldn't be, yet somehow wanted me to be—a creature of pleasure, boldness, devil-may-care-ness.
devil-may-ˈcareism n. (also devil-may-carism)
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > incautiousness > [noun] > rashness or recklessness
recklessnessOE
resec1275
outragea1387
rechelesshipc1390
wantonnessc1390
hastivessa1393
recklesslaika1400
racklenessc1405
recklessheadc1410
headiness1447
temerity?a1475
lavishness1477
hastivitya1500
rashnessa1500
Ate1587
temerousness1598
temeritude1623
wretchlessness1625
hare-brainedness1656
rantum-scantum1695
temerariousness1711
blindness1796
devil-may-carishness1829
devil-may-careness1834
devil-may-care1836
rattle-brain1838
devil-may-careism1841
bullheadedness1858
harum-scarumness1863
madcappery1905
1841 Tait's Edinb. Mag. 8 221 From them he dates that devil-may-carism, that recklessness of the world and the world's law.
1937 Altoona (Pa.) Mirror 24 Nov. 3/2 Home ownership is one antidote to communism, trouble-raising, devil-may-careism.
1988 Photoplay Nov. 39/3 The gutsy, sexy Jamie Lee Curtis..has a glowing devil-may-careism about her.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1799