inattention

[in-uh-ten-shuh n]

See more synonyms for inattention on Thesaurus.com

noun

lack of attention; negligence.
an act of neglect.

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Origin of inattention

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

carelessness negligence inadvertence abstraction remissness disregard neglect dreaminess

Examples from the Web for inattention

Contemporary Examples

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
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
They were accidental owners who turned their inattention into a virtue.
How Old Money Beat Murdoch
Sarah Ellison
May 27, 2010
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

Historical Examples

Our pleasures are but the stolen moments we can snatch from its inattention.
The Conquest of Fear
Basil King
At first she was tempted to turn away her eye with carelessness and inattention.
Imogen
William Godwin
Artois felt suddenly that Gaspare had some perfect excuse for his inattention.
A Spirit in Prison
Robert Hichens
Consciousness is opposed to habit, inattention, sleep, death.
Theaetetus
Plato
He asked her pardon for his inattention; he had been dreaming of a possible happiness!
Melomaniacs
James Huneker

Word Origin and History for inattention

n.

1710, from in- (1) "not, opposite of" + attention.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper