What's the difference between foolhardy and prudent?

Foolhardy


Definition:

  • (a.) Daring without judgment; foolishly adventurous and bold.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) "The labour data suggests that the recovery is ticking over quite nicely, though it would be foolhardy to get complacent given that the risks facing the economy are skewed to the downside."
  • (2) It would be foolhardy to venture technological predictions for 2050.
  • (3) E.ON was the only one brave – or foolhardy – enough to put its head above the parapet and make a formal application to the government.
  • (4) Plainly the system has faults, but seeking to upend things at a time when the public can see no imminent need for change might be considered brave if not foolhardy.
  • (5) It would be foolhardy to offer an inflexible step-care protocol for the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, given its heterogeneity and our uncertainty about its pathogenesis.
  • (6) But for me to say ‘this is what we’re going to do’ would be very foolhardy in the first place and, secondly, dishonest because the truth is I don’t know.” He couched it perfectly, especially for those who were with him on the training camp in Miami before the World Cup when, barely a day after one of his predecessors, Sven-Goran Eriksson, stated there was “absolutely no way” England could win it, the manager abandoned all restraint and fell into the trap.
  • (7) Is it foolhardy of the younger Joe to hang on to the life he knows, even when the future is warning him against it?
  • (8) It would be foolhardy for Iran to want to break out, they say, as there would be a high probability that its work would be discovered before it had made a single weapon.
  • (9) To throw that protection away in response to business demands without any plans to secure improvement in journalism is foolhardy and an insult to our local communities."
  • (10) "People thought we were extremely brave, or foolhardy," says Annie Hudson, Bristol social services divisional director for children, about her predecessor's decision to let in the cameras.
  • (11) The risk for Purnell is that his act of courage - or foolhardiness - will not pull the government down with him, but leave it standing but impotent, the cabinet weakened but intact, too strong to fall apart entirely even though too weak to command events.
  • (12) "[G]iven the deaths of 15 million people during the war, attempting to position 1918 as a simplistic, nationalistic triumph seems … foolhardy, not least because the very same tensions re-emerged to such deadly effect in 1939.
  • (13) Sending money to Washington and expecting central planners to send it back in a way that will grow jobs is foolhardy,” he said.
  • (14) Reviews are always somewhat retrospective in outlook; to write a review at the present time is especially foolhardy since developments in biology are such that totally new concepts can arise almost overnight, as it were.
  • (15) Actually using a bike as a means of getting from A to B along normal roads is still a matter for the brave and the foolhardy, and cyclists on the roads are a rare sight indeed.
  • (16) But flouting both simultaneously is for the foolhardy alone.
  • (17) It would be foolhardy to suggest we’re out of the woods yet, though, and share prices are likely to remain volatile for some time.” Markets have endured some of the worst volatility since the financial crisis amid fears over China’s slowing economy.
  • (18) Río Doce's willingness to go further than other local papers is not, however, foolhardy bravery.
  • (19) But at the moment, they are not recognised as anyone’s territory and we can sail legally, peacefully through these alleged 12-mile limits.” Conroy said while it would be “foolhardy” for the government to announce a freedom-of-navigation exercise in advance of it happening, Australia “should be prepared to defend the international system”.
  • (20) In what some have termed a foolhardy plan, others highly idealistic, the movement plans to reconstruct the city regardless of who wins the war.

Prudent


Definition:

  • (a.) Sagacious in adapting means to ends; circumspect in action, or in determining any line of conduct; practically wise; judicious; careful; discreet; sensible; -- opposed to rash; as, a prudent man; dictated or directed by prudence or wise forethought; evincing prudence; as, prudent behavior.
  • (a.) Frugal; economical; not extravagant; as, a prudent woman; prudent expenditure of money.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Based on these observations, the authors think it prudent to remove such dressings before performing leukocyte imaging.
  • (2) The potential benefits in terms of more rapid return to work, maintenance of the patient's psychosocial integrity, and modification of natural history of the disease make the institution of a cardiac rehabilitation program a prudent activity for a practitioner, clinic, or hospital.
  • (3) Regardless of the exact dose per fraction chosen, it seems prudent to use relatively low doses per fraction initially to maximize the chance of detecting any benefit inherent in the use of neutrons, before exploring increased doses for reasons of improved cost-effectiveness.
  • (4) One would be prudent to avoid marijuana during pregnancy, just as one would do with most other drugs not essential to life or well-being.
  • (5) It seems prudent to avoid hypertriglyceridemia secondary to intravenous fat emulsions, as this alone is a cause of pancreatitis, albeit uncommon, in patients with abnormalities of triglyceride metabolism.
  • (6) For the present, prudent clinical practice should include avoidance of whole blood, fresh frozen plasma, and platelet transfusions and greater reliance on autologous blood transfusions.
  • (7) The author suggests that the most prudent course would be to direct health care providers to accept family decisions unless it appears that the family is acting out of ignorance or in bad faith, in which case the decision would be referred to a hospital ethicist or ethics committee and then--only if there were good grounds to suspect ignorance or bad faith--to judicial review.
  • (8) Based on the currently available data, it seems prudent to diagnose diabetes mellitus only if fasting hyperglycemia is present.
  • (9) From what we know about food adequacy, preparation, and storage, the notion that the postulated "primitive" diet was generally adequate, safe, and prudent can be rejected.
  • (10) Taking out such a deal was, in their view, tantamount to getting into bed with the devil – and certainly out of the question for a prudent financial journalist.
  • (11) It may be prudent to obtain a drug history and urine screen for cocaine before instituting indomethacin therapy for preterm labor or polyhydramnios.
  • (12) Because of the risks of increasing late effects, either due to direct thermal damage or thermo-radiosensitization of normal tissues, it is not prudent to proceed with such testing in sites where there is a risk of excessive normal tissue heating.
  • (13) In such cases especially prudent care is required, for the prognosis may be poor.
  • (14) The National Cancer Institute (NCI) believes that the potential for dietary changes to reduce the risk of cancer is considerable and that the existing scientific data provide evidence that is sufficiently consistent to warrant prudent interim dietary guidelines that will promote good health and reduce the risk of some types of cancer.
  • (15) Three cases of primary adenocarcinoma of the Fallopian tube have been treated at the Gynecology Department of Hospital A. C. Camargo, Fundación A. Prudente, São Paulo, between 1972-1987.
  • (16) For this reason it recommends that banks provide a separate set of accounts drawn up on "prudent principles".
  • (17) The incorporation of interference into niche theory clarifies the competitive phenomenon of unstable equilibrium points, excess density compensation on islands, competitive avoidance by escape in time and space, the persistence of the "prudent predator," and the magnitude of the difference between the size of a species' fundamental niche and its realized niche.
  • (18) It increases in relative importance along with improvement in socioeconomic and environmental conditions and in association with prudent lifestyle.
  • (19) As drug-induced erythroid hypoplasia typically occurs after a relatively long period of dosing, it may be prudent in certain individuals to monitor the CBC at approximately bimonthly intervals after initiation of therapy.
  • (20) These results revealed specific shortcomings in the dietary habits of the CORIS population and emphasised the need for changes necessary to meet the requirements for a prudent diet.