Word.ws English Dictionary

harum-scarum

US/ˌhɛəɹəmˈskɛəɹəm/

harum-scarum adjective: wild, careless, irresponsible.

Adjective

harum-scarum (not comparable)

  1. wild, careless, irresponsible
    • 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.1832, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Eugene Aram

Adverb

harum-scarum (not comparable)

  1. wildly, carelessly, irresponsibly
    • […] 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.1800, Maria Edgeworth, Castle Rackrent

Noun

harum-scarum (plural harum-scarums)

  1. A giddy, rash person.

harum-scarum meaning in Tamil and Malayalam

harum-scarum in Tamil

மடத்துணிச்சல் உள்ளவர், மடத்துணிச்சல் உள்ள நடத்தை, மடத்துணிச்சலுள்ள

harum-scarum in Malayalam

ചപലമതിയായ, അവിവേകിയായ, ലക്കും ലഗാനുമില്ലാത്ത, താന്തോന്നി

Forms of harum-scarum

pluralharum-scarums

Origin of harum-scarum

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.

Questions about harum-scarum

What does harum-scarum mean?
Harum-scarum means wild, careless, irresponsible.
What is harum-scarum in Tamil?
Harum-scarum in Tamil is மடத்துணிச்சல் உள்ளவர், மடத்துணிச்சல் உள்ள நடத்தை, மடத்துணிச்சலுள்ள. See Harum-scarum meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is harum-scarum?
Harum-scarum can be an adjective, an adverb or a noun.
How do you pronounce harum-scarum?
Harum-scarum is pronounced /ˌhɛəɹəmˈskɛəɹəm/ (US).

Words near harum-scarum in the dictionary

  1. Hartzog
  2. Hartzogs
  3. Haru
  4. Haruhi
  5. Haruko
  6. harum-scarum
  7. harum-scarums
  8. Harumi
  9. harumph
  10. harumphed
  11. harumphing

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: harum-scarum (page history and authors); harum-scarum (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); harum-scarum (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “harum-scarum.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/harum-scarum. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.