inattention

[ in-uh-ten-shuhn ]

/ ˌɪn əˈtɛn ʃən /

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noun

lack of attention; negligence.

an act of neglect.

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON "IS" VS. "ARE"

"Is" it time for a new quiz? "Are" you ready? Then prove your excellent skills on using "is" vs. "are."

Question 1 of 7

IS and ARE are both forms of which verb?

Origin of inattention

First recorded in 1700–10; in-³ + attention

It’s missing in a lot of places these days, but Muchas Gracias is a poster child for inattention.
2021 Fall Dining Guide|Tom Sietsema|October 6, 2021|Washington Post
They recommend battling student inattention with good work stations, quick openings, smart pacing and the reading of actual books.
How’s your kid’s online class? Here’s the gold standard.|Jay Mathews|January 10, 2021|Washington Post
But the biographical inattention to his voluminous body of written work nonetheless has been a strange oversight.
Churchill Would Be Famous Today on the Strength of His Writing Alone|Anthony Paletta|June 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Unmarried women were put off by inattention to their issues, particularly in the debates, says Greenberg, and that hurt Obama.
Obama’s Women Supporters and the ‘Marriage Gap’ Wild Card|Eleanor Clift|November 4, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Numbers also help explain all that inattention on Tuesday night.
Last Look at Munch’s ‘The Scream’ as Painting Is Auctioned for $119M|Blake Gopnik|May 3, 2012|DAILY BEAST
They were accidental owners who turned their inattention into a virtue.
How Old Money Beat Murdoch|Sarah Ellison|May 27, 2010|DAILY BEAST
The trouble is that an inattention to the details of money is not exactly what we want in a Treasury secretary at the moment.
Obama's Strange Obsession|Tina Brown|February 9, 2009|DAILY BEAST
A very slight inattention may cause this to be the case, and the taste of the cheese is sure to be more or less affected by it.
Domestic Animals|Richard L. Allen
Nothing, perhaps, has contributed more to the error of Realism than inattention to this ambiguity.
A System of Logic: Ratiocinative and Inductive|John Stuart Mill
I returned all the letters excepting one or two which, from inattention, were left between the leaves of a book.
The Confessions of J. J. Rousseau, Complete|Jean Jacques Rousseau
William—the footman—had a week before received a months warning on the general grounds of carelessness and inattention.
The Angel of Pain|E. F. Benson
He had been once before overset in consequence of a similar inattention, and then had lost one man.
The Voyage Of Governor Phillip To Botany Bay|Arthur Phillip