These adjectives are low-keyed, unemotional words used to call the wisdom of actions or decisions into question without giving offence. All are politely or mildly critical, emphasizing the absence of a positive attribute rather than the presence of a negative one. All may be used either to express disapproval or to convey a word of warning. Unwise and inadvisable are the most general words and may serve as less precise substitutes for the others. When used in expressing an opinion on something already done, they imply a preferable alternative that would have been considered wiser: an unwise choice; This course of action seems inadvisable to me. If anything, unwise is the stronger because, when used as an advisory or precautionary word, it may sometimes imply considerable risk and possible danger: To make speculative investments without adequate saving is unwise. Injudicious is milder than both, suggesting not so much a lack of basic good judgement as a failure to exercise the best possible judgement in a certain sensitive situation. Where unwise or inadvisable may refer to something foolish or risky, what is injudicious is simply ill-considered or indiscreet.

• The official made some hasty, injudicious remarks; Her injudicious eagerness to buy the antique encouraged the dealer to raise the price.

Unwise , inadvisable , injudicious and imprudent all point to a lack of foresight, a failure to think ahead and anticipate consequences. But imprudent emphasizes a lack of discretion, implying that greater precautions might be taken or that greater circumspection might be shown.

• The doctor thought it imprudent for his patient to take a long trip; The teacher’s colleagues felt that it was imprudent of him to over-praise his student.

Ill-advised is perhaps the least offensive of these inoffensive terms. It tends to shift responsibility or blame from the person himself to his actual or supposed advisers. Whereas unwise might imply a personal failure in judgement, ill-advised and to some extent inadvisable suggest that a person was acting or that a project was undertaken in accordance with bad or inadequate advice.

• You were ill-advised to sell the shares, since they have good growth potential; an ill-advised strike that forced their employer to go out of business.

Ill-advised may be used also to warn someone against taking action without getting enough sound advice beforehand: It would be ill-advised to abandon the project before all the preliminary reports are in.

SEE : absurd, heedless, reckless, stupid.