Standard Lemma guide

harum-scarum

adj · adv · noun · 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.

  • US: /ˌhɛəɹəmˈskɛəɹəm/

1

adj

Meaning 1

wild, careless, irresponsible

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • 1832, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Eugene Aram Lester's good heart will be to hear that little Peter is so improved;--no longer a dissolute, harum-scarum fellow, throwing away his money, and always in debt.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adv

Meaning 2

wildly, carelessly, irresponsibly

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • 1800, Maria Edgeworth, Castle Rackrent [...] for he never looked after anything at all, but harum-scarum called for everything as if we were conjurors, or he in a public-house.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A giddy, rash person.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

cheerfully irresponsible

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • carefree with his money
  • freewheeling urban youths
  • had a harum-scarum youth

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: carefree, devil-may-care, freewheeling, happy-go-lucky, slaphappy

Antonyms: none provided

5

adverb

Meaning 5

in a wild or reckless manner

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • dashing harum-scarum all over the place
  • running pell-mell up the stairs

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pell-mell

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

a reckless impetuous irresponsible person

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: daredevil, madcap, hothead, swashbuckler, lunatic

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: adventurer, venturer

Narrower terms: tearaway

History

Etymology

Uncertain. Likely from hare (“harass, harry”) 'em (“them”) and scare 'em (“frighten them”); alternately the first element may be from hare (“rabbit-like animals”), or the second element may be a variant of stare. Attested from the late 17th century. Compare English willy-nilly of the same meaning.

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: безотговорен (bezotgovoren) — wild, careless, irresponsible
  • Bulgarian: лекомислен (lekomislen) — wild, careless, irresponsible
  • Hungarian: szeleburdi — wild, careless, irresponsible
  • Hungarian: hűbelebalázs — wild, careless, irresponsible
  • Polish: roztrzepany — wild, careless, irresponsible
  • Polish: lekkomyślny — wild, careless, irresponsible
  • Polish: bezmyślny — wild, careless, irresponsible
  • Russian: безрассудный (bezrassudnyj) — wild, careless, irresponsible