inattentive
Americanadjective
-
Inattentive or careless driving is a serious issue, and cell phones clearly contribute to it.
- Synonyms:
- thoughtless, slipshod, slapdash, remiss, regardless, neglectful, irresponsible, careless
- Antonyms:
- mindful, thoughtful, careful
-
characterized by or exhibiting a lack of focus or concentration.
Most children are occasionally inattentive, distractible, impulsive, or highly active.
- Synonyms:
- oblivious, faraway, dreamy, distracted, abstracted, absent-minded, absent, ditzy, unmindful, heedless, distrait, preoccupied
- Antonyms:
- mindful, thoughtful, careful
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inattentive
Explanation
Someone who's inattentive isn't paying enough attention. An inattentive lunch companion might spend the whole meal texting on his phone. Inattentive people are sometimes distracted, like an inattentive babysitter who loses track of the kids he's watching at the playground. You can also be inattentive simply through indifference or boredom — if you're inattentive at the opera, you're not paying attention to it because you're not interested in it. Inattentive tacks the "not" prefix in- onto attentive, from the Latin root attendere, "give heed to" or "stretch toward."
Vocabulary lists containing inattentive
Absent
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Absent
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Only the truly inattentive will be shocked that complications ensue.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
Jurors ultimately decided that Penny was not guilty of criminally negligent homicide, which “involves causing someone's death by acting in a manner that was reckless, inattentive, or careless.”
From Salon • Dec. 9, 2024
The filing also says the Dali was manned by "an incompetent crew that was inattentive to its duties" and "lacked proper training".
From BBC • Apr. 23, 2024
Toward the end of freshman year, we all started hanging out at the house of a friend who had a big basement and inattentive parents.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 4, 2024
“But there may be pretty good guessing. He will be a completely gross, vulgar farmer, totally inattentive to appearances, and thinking of nothing but profit and loss.”
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
