'antiprudential' originates from Greek and Latin elements: the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti') meaning 'against' combined with 'prudential' (from Latin roots related to 'prudens'/'prudentia'), where 'anti-' meant 'against' and the Latin roots meant 'foreseeing/sensible'.

'antiprudential' was formed in modern English by prefixing 'anti-' to the existing adjective 'prudential' (itself from Latin 'prudentia' via Old French and Middle English), creating a negational compound that literally reads 'against prudence.'

Initially, the components referred separately to 'against' and to 'prudence'; combined in modern coinage they came to mean either 'opposed to prudence' (ideological) or 'lacking prudence' (descriptive), a nuance that developed with contemporary usage.