Recklessness is acting with no regard for the danger. Sheer recklessness, charged with recklessness, an act of recklessness.
In criminal law it is a defined state of mind between intention and negligence: recklessness is seeing the risk and going ahead anyway, which is what makes it culpable. The reck in it is an old verb meaning to care.
1nounrecklessnessActing with no regard for the danger.
“His recklessness behind the wheel led to a serious crash.”
recklessness is a heedlessness.
Old English recelaesnes comes from reccan, to care, plus -less and -ness.
Old English
rēċelēasnes
Middle English
reklesnes
English, today
recklessness
From Middle English reklesnes, from Old English rēċelēasnes. From Middle English reklesnes, reklesnesse, rekelesnesse (also assibilated as rechelesnes, reccheleesnesse), from Old English rēcelēasnes (“recklessness, carelessness, negligence”), equivalent to reckless + -ness.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA