dereliction

[der-uh-lik-shuhn]

noun

1. deliberate or conscious neglect; negligence; delinquency.

   dereliction of duty.

2. the act of abandoning something.

   Synonyms: desertion

3. the state of being abandoned.

4. Law.,  a leaving dry of land by recession of the water line.

dereliction

/ ˌdɛrɪˈlɪkʃən /

noun

1. deliberate, conscious, or wilful neglect (esp in the phrase dereliction of duty )

2. the act of abandoning or deserting or the state of being abandoned or deserted

3. law

   1. accretion of dry land gained by the gradual receding of the sea or by a river changing its course

   2. the land thus left

Word History and Origins

Origin of dereliction¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin dērelictiōn- (stem of dērelictiō ) “an abandoning,” equivalent to dērelict(us) ( derelict ) + -iōn- -ion

Synonym Study

See neglect.

Example Sentences

On Tuesday, Williamson rejected Sir Jon's accusation that the lack of planning represented a "dereliction of duty", but conceded that "the depth of the challenge we were facing hadn't been properly grasped".

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“Democrats have abandoned their offices by fleeing Texas, and a failure to respond to a call of the House constitutes a dereliction of their duty as elected officials,” Paxton said in a statement.

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It also accused staff at the Tianshui No. 2 People's Hospital of "serious dereliction of duty" and described the institution's management of the case as "chaotic".

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He added that Pegg was "impossibly vulnerable to Saunderson'" once she started in her "dereliction of duty" because she "knew he could destroy your career".

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"It would be a dereliction of duty for the Labour party to win a landslide on difficult things and then go, 'do you know what, it's too difficult'."

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Related Words

• evasion 
• negligence