Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use caution in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Caution means prudence when faced with, or when expecting to face, danger; care taken in order to avoid risk or harm. Example: “The guideline expressed caution against excessive radiographic imaging.”

Examples of caution by meaning

nounPrudence when faced with, or when expecting to face, danger; care taken in order to avoid risk or harm.

  • exercise great caution
  • utmost caution is required when travelling in this dangerous neighbourhood
  • act with caution

nounA careful attention to the probable effects of an act, in order that failure or harm may be avoided.

  • The guideline expressed caution against excessive radiographic imaging.

nounOne who draws attention or causes astonishment by their behaviour.

  • Oh, that boy, he's a caution! He does make me laugh.
  • ‘You are a caution,’ she said, when she came out. ‘I don't understand you.’1915, W. Somerset Maugham, chapter 58, in Of Human Bondage

verbTo warn; to alert, advise that caution is warranted.

  • "Careful, Uwe," cautions my Venezuelan explorer friend, José Miguel Pérez, with a grim smile.1989 May, Uwe George, “Venezuela's Islands in Time”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 535
  • In its May 1965 issue, Life magazine condemned skateboards as a “menace to limb and even to life,” and cautioned readers about riders who “take over the paths made for peaceful strollers.”2018 July 13, Jaime Marie Davis, “How photographers have captured skateboarding through generations”, in CNN

verbTo read someone their formal legal rights as part of a lawful arrest.

  • Caution them, will you?1999 September 12, Anthony Horowitz et al., “Dead Man's Eleven”, in Midsomer Murders

More sentences with caution

  • She showed a want of caution in renting her house to complete strangers.From the entry want
  • The campaign staff cautioned the candidate to handle the issue with kid gloves.From the entry handle with kid gloves
  • A history of orthostasis prompts some caution in prescribing of antihypertensives.From the entry orthostasis
  • There is much to be said for a policy of caution.From the entry much to be said
  • Use caution when working near live wires.From the entry live
  • In these uncertain times, I am disposed towards caution.From the entry dispose
  • In lieu of recent events, more caution is needed.From the entry in lieu of
  • Although the minister is in good health, he has been hospitalized today out of an abundance of caution.From the entry abundance of caution
  • Whether Candy Flipping or Nexus Flipping, the user should approach either experience with caution.2024 April 10, The Bunk Police, “Before You Nexus Flip, Here’s What to Know”, in BunkPolice.com, archived from the original on 17 May 2025. From the entry candy flip
  • McKenna was found to be heavily intoxicated, and after caution he swore and replied: "I'm blocked."2019 January 4, “'Drunk' Co Tyrone teenager smashed car into solicitor's office in Dungannon”, in The Irish News. From the entry blocked
  • Instead of hearts on sleeves, expect caution, philosophical doubt, a bland smile.2019, Andrew Beatty, “Java: Emotions Analyzed”, in Emotional Worlds: Beyond an Anthropology of Emotion, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN…. From the entry hearts on sleeves
  • The big trout feed aggressively and tend to lose their caution in the rifles.2017, Bill Barich, “On the Glories of Autumn”, in California Fly Fisher. From the entry riffle
  • Reno humorously cautions against going “Trumpster diving” for our next president (p. 38).2017 March 8, William L. Benoit, Mark J. Glantz, Persuasive Attacks on Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Primary, Lexington Books, →ISBN. From the entry Trumpster diving
  • However, these data should be interpreted with caution, as only early anticoagulatory effects were assessed.2015 June 12, Jeanne Mendell et al., “The Effect of Rifampin on the Pharmacokinetics of Edoxaban in Healthy Adults”, in Clinical Drug…. From the entry anticoagulatory
  • Proceed only with caution here, to not upset the apple cart.2013, George Deeb, 101 Startup Lessons: An Entrepreneur's Handbook, →ISBN, page 10. From the entry upset the apple cart
  • Anesthesia of fish with labyrinth organs (bettas, some gouramis, etc.) should be approached with caution.2012, Helen E. Roberts, “MS 222 Anesthesia”, in Jörg Mayer, Thomas M. Donnelly, editors, Clinical Veterinary Advisor: Birds and Exotic…. From the entry labyrinth organ
  • It is better to overdocument than not; thus, always err on the side of caution and overdocument.2012, Albert J. Marcella, Jr.; Frederic Guillossou, Cyber Forensics: From Data to Digital Evidence, page 279. From the entry overdocument
  • Merton cautioned against confusing post factum sociological interpretations with social theory.2010, John K. Rhoads, Critical Issues in Social Theory, →ISBN, page 34. From the entry post factum
  • Use caution when granting public synonyms, especially in a multischema environment.2009, Ryan K. Stephens, Ronald R. Plew, Arie Jones, Sams Teach Yourself SQL in One Hour a Day, page 567. From the entry multischema
  • And dating guys twenty years younger means you have officially hit cougarhood, proceed with caution.2009, Reba Toney, The Rating Game: The Foolproof Formula for Finding Your Perfect Soul Mate, St. Martin's Griffin, →ISBN, page 130. From the entry cougarhood
  • As he does, he cautions Michael as to the postmurder parameters.2008, Fred Ephraim, Kelsey's Quest, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 280. From the entry postmurder
  • Some will caution you at great length about the dangers of Vodou.2007, Kevin Filan, The Haitian Vodou Handbook, Destiny Books, page 3. From the entry loa
  • It was necessary, he cautioned, to specify ‘long bread’ or ‘gut bread’ in order to receive pancreas.2007, Martin Edwards, Control and the Therapeutic Trial: Rhetoric and Experimentation in Britain, 1918–48 (The Wellcome Series in the…. From the entry gutbread
  • A word of caution however if you want to express the expected connections between these different supports.2007, Thierry Lucas, “Axioms for Action”, in Logique et Analyse, volume 50, number 200, page 384. From the entry codisjoint
  • Still, the writer and director jokingly cautions that Serenity is not the start of a trilogy.2005 October 1, Daniel Eagan, “Finding Serenity”, in Film Journal International. From the entry openture
  • Caution needs to be exercised in the use of articularly aligned orthoses.2002, Haemophilia - Volume 8, page 407. From the entry articularly
  • Catness is caution, privacy, order, mind; dogness is impulsiveness, sociability, chaos, body.2002, Rebecca McClanahan, The Riddle Song & Other Rememberings, page 110. From the entry catness
  • Caution: When you successfully open a protected file, you’ve just unprotected it.2000, David Pogue, “Icon Management”, in Mac OS 9: The Missing Manual, Sebastopol, Calif.: Pogue Press/O’Reilly & Associates, Inc.…. From the entry unprotect
  • Caution: TBCS is harmful, and this procedure should be carried out in a fume hood.1995, Heddwyn Jones, Plant Gene Transfer and Expression Protocols, Humana Press, →ISBN, page 328, →ISBN. From the entry salinize
  • We were on a building site and two of us got arrested and given a caution.1995, Angela Devlin, Criminal classes: offenders at school, page 109. From the entry sag off
  • In any uncertain situation, government tends to err on the side of caution and delay.1976 Oct. 29, James J. Kilpatrick, "Bureaucracy Infects Drug Industry," St. Petersburg Independent/Washington Star Syndicate, p. 23-A…. From the entry err on the side of caution

Meaning of caution

  1. noun Prudence when faced with, or when expecting to face, danger; care taken in order to avoid risk or harm.
  2. noun A careful attention to the probable effects of an act, in order that failure or harm may be avoided.
  3. noun Security; guaranty; bail.

Full definition of caution

Questions about caution in a sentence

How do you use caution in a sentence?
Caution is used as a noun and verb. For example: “The guideline expressed caution against excessive radiographic imaging.”
What is a short sentence with caution?
“act with caution”
What does caution mean?
Caution means prudence when faced with, or when expecting to face, danger; care taken in order to avoid risk or harm.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: caution (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use caution in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/caution. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.