Standard Lemma guide

guarded

adj · verb · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈɡɑɹdɪd/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɡɑːdɪd/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: G AA1 R D AH0 D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: G AA1 R D IH0 D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Cautious; restrained.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • guarded outlook
  • guarded optimism
  • The employees reacted with guarded optimism to the new agreement reached by their trade union.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Cautious; restrained.

A good outcome has fair odds of happening but close monitoring is important because odds of deterioration are not low.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: medicine, sciences

Examples

  • guarded prognosis
  • prognosis is guarded

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Watched over; supervised.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Having a guard, e.g. a crossguard (on a sword), a faceguard (on a helmet), or a hatguard (on a chapeau).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: especially

Topics: government, heraldry, hobbies, lifestyle, monarchy, nobility, politics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

simple past and past participle of guard

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, participle, past

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

prudent

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • guarded optimism

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: restrained

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: ehtiyatlı — cautious
  • Bulgarian: предпазлив (predpazliv) — cautious
  • French: circonspect — cautious
  • Māori: hihira — cautious
  • Portuguese: circunspecto — cautious
  • Spanish: circunspecto — cautious
  • Spanish: reservado — cautious
  • Bulgarian: защитен (zaštiten) — watched over; supervised
  • Bulgarian: запазен (zapazen) — watched over; supervised
  • Sanskrit: गुप्त (gupta) — watched over; supervised
  • Portuguese: reservado — not favourable
  • Spanish: reservado — not favourable