dereliction
[der-uh-lik-shuh n]
- deliberate or conscious neglect; negligence; delinquency: dereliction of duty.
- the act of abandoning something.
- the state of being abandoned.
- Law. a leaving dry of land by recession of the water line.
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Origin of dereliction
Synonyms
See more synonyms for dereliction on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for dereliction
Contemporary Examples
This is a dereliction of duty, pure and simple—a firing offense.
Christie still has time to learn from this dereliction of duty.
By rejecting this last attempt to suborn a dereliction of duty, Henry saved my reputation, my honor, my life, really.
It had suffered a sizeable brain drain, since over a third of its workforce was fired by Chavez for dereliction of duty.
Around this time, he was reprimanded, unfairly, on two counts of dereliction of duty.
Historical Examples
But the dereliction of hope is not the worst enemy of virtuous woman.
Gomez AriasJoaqun Telesforo de Trueba y Coso
He had no reason and only a very poor excuse to offer for his dereliction.
Jesus the ChristJames Edward Talmage
He bitterly reproached his valet for this dereliction of duty.
And though some may censure this as a dereliction of principle, I do not so view it.
The Sheepfold and the Common, Vol. I (of 2)Timothy East
These were, my children, said he, the days of my dereliction.
The Mercy of AllahHilaire Belloc
dereliction
- deliberate, conscious, or wilful neglect (esp in the phrase dereliction of duty)
- the act of abandoning or deserting or the state of being abandoned or deserted
- law
- accretion of dry land gained by the gradual receding of the sea or by a river changing its course
- the land thus left
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for dereliction
n.
1590s, "abandonment" (formerly with a wider range than in modern use, e.g. of the sea withdrawing from the land), from Latin derelictionem (nominative derelictio), noun of action from past participle stem of derelinquere (see derelict). Meaning "failure in duty" is from c.1830.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper