tactless
[adjective]
Synonyms: insensitive, impolite, impolitic, inconsiderate, indelicate, indiscreet, thoughtless, undiplomatic, unsubtle

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Antonyms: tactful
Contrasted words: diplomatic, polite, tactical
Related Words: impolite, inconsiderate, indelicate, rude, bungling, inept

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English Thesaurus: careless, clumsy, sloppy, reckless, irresponsible, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

tact‧less /ˈtæktləs/ adjective
likely to upset or embarrass someone without intending to Antonym : tactful:
I thought it would be tactless to ask about her divorce.
She’s one of the most tactless people I’ve ever met.
a tactless remark
—tactlessly adverb
—tactlessness noun [uncountable]

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

careless not paying enough attention to what you are doing, so that you make mistakes, damage things etc:
I made a few careless mistakes.
It was careless of you to leave your purse lying about.
He started getting careless about taking his medication.
clumsy often dropping or breaking things because you move around in a careless way:
I’m so clumsy, I spilt milk all over the floor.
a clumsy child
sloppy careless and lazy in the way you do your work or in your behaviour generally:
As a student, he was brilliant but sloppy.
I will not tolerate sloppy work.
reckless especially written doing dangerous or stupid things without thinking about your own or other people’s safety:
The driver of the car was arrested for reckless driving.
His actions showed a reckless disregard for human life.
irresponsible careless in a way that might affect other people, especially when you should be taking care of them:
It’s irresponsible for parents to let their children smoke.
his irresponsible attitude to keeping animals
tactless carelessly saying something that upsets or embarrasses someone, without intending to do this:
He kept making tactless remarks about her appearance.
a tactless question
I thought it would be tactless to ask about her divorce.
casual not being careful enough about something and treating it as though it is not important:
He seems to have a very casual attitude towards his work.
She disliked the casual way in which he made decisions affecting other people’s lives.
negligent careless about something that you are responsible for, so that serious mistakes are made – used especially when someone will be officially punished for this:
The doctor was negligent in using the wrong type of needle.
They found him guilty of negligent conduct.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

rude not following the rules of good social behaviour or treating other people with a lack of respect:
It’s rude to interrupt.
He’s the rudest man I’ve ever met.
rude remarks about her stomach
impolite/not polite not following the rules of good social behaviour. Impolite sounds rather formal:
It is impolite to stare.
It’s not polite to talk with your mouth full of food.
cheeky British English, smart/sassy American English behaving in a way that is a little rude, especially when this is amusing or annoying – used especially about children:
a cheeky grin
Let go, you cheeky monkey (=cheeky child)!
Don’t get smart with me!
tactless saying things that are likely to upset or embarrass someone, without intending to:
a tactless remark
How could you be so tactless?
offensive speaking or behaving in a way that is likely to upset or offend someone:
His remarks are offensive to African-Americans.
offensive language
insulting speaking or behaving in a way that is very rude and offensive to someone:
comments that are insulting to women
The article was full of insulting language.
discourteous /dɪsˈkɜːtiəs $ -ɜːr-/ formal rather rude. Discourteous sounds very formal and is often used when talking about being careful not to upset someone’s feelings:
He did not wish to appear discourteous towards his host.
It would seem discourteous to refuse her offer.
ill-mannered (also bad-mannered) especially written behaving in a rude way, especially because you have never been taught how to behave politely:
Ill-mannered movie-goers talked throughout the entire picture.
It was very bad-mannered.
disrespectful not showing the proper respect for someone or something:
I felt her comments were disrespectful to all the people who have worked so hard on this project.
impertinent formal not showing a proper respect for someone, especially by asking or talking about subjects that you do not have a right to know about:
an impertinent question about his private life
an impertinent young man
Would it be impertinent to ask how old you are?
insolent formal behaving in a way that is deliberately very rude to someone in authority:
The girl’s only response was an insolent stare.
Don’t be so insolent!
impudent formal rude, and having no respect for people who are older or more important:
The boy gave an impudent smile.
irreverent showing a lack of respect for someone or something who people are supposed to respect – used especially about comedy programmes and newspaper articles:
an irreverent look at the week’s events
his irreverent sense of humour

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

unkind treating people in a way that makes them unhappy or upset. Unkind sounds rather formal. In everyday English, people usually say mean or nasty:
Children can be very unkind to each other.
a rather unkind remark
mean especially spoken unkind:
Don’t be mean to your sister!
It was a mean thing to do.
nasty deliberately unkind, and seeming to enjoy making people unhappy:
He said some really nasty things before he left.
a nasty man
hurtful unkind – used about remarks and actions:
Joe couldn’t forget the hurtful things she had said.
Couples sometimes do hurtful things to each other.
spiteful deliberately unkind to someone because you are jealous of them or angry with them:
The other women were spiteful to her, and gave her the hardest work to do.
She watched them with spiteful glee (=pleasure).
malicious deliberately behaving in a way that is likely to upset, hurt, or cause problems for someone:
Someone had been spreading malicious rumours about him.
There was a malicious smile on her face.
an act of malicious vandalism
The accusations are malicious.
unsympathetic not seeming to care about someone’s problems, and not trying to help them or make them feel better:
Her parents were very unsympathetic, and told her that she deserved to fail her exam.
an unsympathetic boss
hard-hearted very unsympathetic and not caring at all about other people’s feelings:
Was he hard-hearted enough to leave his son in jail overnight?
a hard-hearted businessman
horrible especially spoken very unkind:
Why is Jack always so horrible to me?
cruel very unkind and deliberately making people feel unhappy or making them suffer physically:
Her father was very cruel to her.
a selfish, cruel woman
wicked /ˈwɪkəd, ˈwɪkɪd/ extremely unkind and behaving in a very immoral way:
a wicked thing to do
the wicked stepmother in Cinderella
sadistic extremely unkind and enjoying making other people suffer:
Their father was a sadistic bully who beat them regularly.
He took a certain sadistic pleasure in his job.
thoughtless/inconsiderate not thinking about the effects of your actions on other people:
It was inconsiderate of him not to say that he would be late.
a thoughtless disregard for other people’s feelings
tactless someone who is tactless carelessly says or does things that are likely to upset someone, without realizing what they are doing:
How could you be so tactless?
a tactless question
insensitive behaving in a way that is likely to upset someone, or not seeming to care about someone’s feelings. Insensitive is rather a formal word:
The article is insensitive to the family and friends of the victim.
He later admitted that some of his remarks were ‘insensitive’.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲