neglectful
Americanadjective
adjective
Usage
What does neglectful mean? Neglectful is used to describe people who have neglected someone or something, meaning they’ve failed to pay enough attention or have not done enough to provide proper care. Neglectful is often followed by the word of and the person or thing being neglected, as in I’m afraid I’ve been neglectful of my duties. Neglectful can also be used to describe such a person’s actions, as in Their parenting is neglectful at best. Describing someone as neglectful of objects or things usually means that they haven’t maintained such things properly. To be neglectful of your car is to fail to make sure it gets the maintenance it needs to keep running properly. To be neglectful of your health is to fail to do anything to maintain it. To be neglectful of your duties is to disregard them, often due to being preoccupied with other things. When it’s used in the context of people, neglectful implies a lack of attention and care. When you’re neglectful of a friend or romantic partner, it means you don’t spend enough time with them or you fail to consider or care about their emotional needs. When the word is used in relation to the care of children, it describes someone who has failed to properly care for them in a way that’s equivalent to mistreatment or abuse. The word negligent can be a synonym and is based on the same root. The adjective neglectful can be used to describe a person who neglects or their actions. The word neglected can also be used as an adjective, as in neglected children. Example: After years of neglectful treatment, these pets are being adopted into loving homes.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of neglectful
Explanation
If you're neglectful, you're not as careful or attentive as you should be. A neglectful babysitter might lose track of where her charges are. A neglectful cat owner might forget to feed his pet, and a neglectful host might wander away from his party guests to check his email or read a magazine. In either case, the neglectful person is being thoughtless or inconsiderate. The verb neglect, "fail to properly care for," is at the root of neglectful, from the Latin neglegere, "to make light of, disregard, or not trouble oneself about," or literally "not to pick up."
Vocabulary lists containing neglectful
Genuine Fraud
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Unit 9: Vocabulary from Readings
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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.
She blames me for her poor relationship with her son and grandchildren, without considering that her aggressive, demanding and neglectful behavior may have pushed them away.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 29, 2026
To connect maternal regret with unloving and neglectful parenting is a careless assumption, according to Israeli sociologist Orna Donath, author of Regretting Motherhood: A Study.
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026
An important study from Australia found that in the last few decades we have really lowered the threshold to what is labeled harmful, abusive, traumatizing and neglectful behavior.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026
The play revolves around two modern-day brothers, Booth and Lincoln, whose fate may be determined by the names their profoundly neglectful parents saddled them with as a joke — a joke with an archetypal punchline.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 5, 2025
Mantell was a lanky assemblage of shortcomings–he was vain, self-absorbed, priggish, neglectful of his family–but never was there a more devoted amateur paleontologist.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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.
