harum-scarum
/ˌhɛːrəmˈskɛːrəm
/adjective
Reckless; impetuous: a wild harum-scarum youth...
- Favourite Gunther McBride set out to make every yard of the running under Richard Johnson, but his jumping was harum-scarum.
- Van Wyk's narrator, a harum-scarum, hard-drinking journalist called Scara Nhlabatsi, relishes all manner of rude jokes, bawdy abuse, malapropisms and puns and provides a slew of images of the vulgar excess of power.
- She told me a harum-scarum tale of running through a forest in the middle of the stormy.
Synonyms
reckless, impetuous, impulsive, imprudent, rash, wild, daredevil, madcap, precipitous, precipitate, frivolous, hot-headed, hare-brained, giddy, foolhardy, thoughtless, incautious, careless, heedless, hasty, overhasty
informal devil-may-care, scatty, dotty, dippy
British informal divvy
rare temerarious
noun
A reckless, impetuous person.She looked with disfavor upon the young beaver's suit because he was a harum-scarum and a ne'er-do-well....
- But if Mr. Grace failed to sympathize with the harum-scarums, he nonetheless managed them well. He was quite a disciplinarian.
Origin
Late 17th century (as an adverb): reduplication based on hare and scare.