harum-scarum
Wildly, carelessly, irresponsiblyWildly, carelessly, irresponsibly
Meaning
1 senses(not comparable)Wildly, carelessly, irresponsibly
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.
- in a wild or reckless manner
Origin
Uncertain. Likely from hare (“harass, harry”) 'em (“them”) and scare 'em (“frighten them”)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.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.