Literary notes about thoughtless (AI summary)
Writers frequently deploy "thoughtless" to signal actions or attitudes marked by a lack of careful reflection or regard for consequences. In some texts, the term underscores impulsivity or regret—a character may lament having acted without due consideration ([1], [2]), or even use the word self-critically to denote past indiscretions ([3]). In other contexts, "thoughtless" describes a breezy, carefree state that, while seemingly light-hearted, can also hint at moral or emotional shortsightedness ([4], [5]). At times, it serves as a critique of insensitivity or cruelty when care and deliberation are sorely lacking ([6], [7]), thus enriching the narrative by revealing deeper layers of character and societal commentary.
- “My dear Fanny,” cried Edmund, immediately drawing her arm within his, “how thoughtless I have been!
— from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - I know I used to be a selfish, thoughtless creature—how selfish and thoughtless I am ashamed to remember now, so I can't be quite so bad as I was.
— from Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. Montgomery - "I was not wicked when I was young," she thought, as she stared gloomingly at the fire, "I was only thoughtless.
— from Lady Audley's Secret by M. E. Braddon - Light was my sleep; my days in transport roll'd: With thoughtless joy I stretch'd along the shore
— from Lyrical Ballads, With a Few Other Poems (1798) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth - When thoughtless youth whom nothing grieves, Before whose inexperienced sight Life lies extended, vast and bright, To peer into the future tries.
— from Eugene Oneguine [Onegin] by Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin - Now and then, however, he is horribly thoughtless, and seems to take a real delight in giving me pain.
— from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - It is recognized, too, not by the ignorant and thoughtless only, or the radical and heretical alone, but also by multitudes of educated and pious men.
— from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I
