negligence
Americannoun
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the quality, fact, or result of being negligent; neglect.
negligence in discharging one's responsibilities.
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an instance of being negligent.
a downfall brought about by many negligences.
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Law. the failure to exercise that degree of care that, in the circumstances, the law requires for the protection of other persons or those interests of other persons that may be injuriously affected by the want of such care.
adjective
noun
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the state or quality of being negligent
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a negligent act
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law a civil wrong whereby a person or party is in breach of a legal duty of care to another which results in loss or injury to the claimant
Related Words
See neglect.
Other Word Forms
- nonnegligence noun
- overnegligence noun
- prenegligence noun
- supernegligence noun
Etymology
Origin of negligence
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, variant of necligence, from Latin necligentia; negligent, -ence
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.
That law shields individual federal employees from being held financially responsible for negligence or wrongdoing done in the course of their job, but it does allow suits seeking compensation from government agencies.
The captain of a cargo ship that collided with a tanker in the North Sea has been found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter.
From BBC
That is, the plaintiff’s complaints about IRS failures and negligence pin the blame on officials who were supervised by that very plaintiff.
Her death comes amid a renewed debate in Nigeria about the quality of healthcare and patient safety, following a series of allegations of medical negligence.
From BBC
“I told them abandonment wasn’t exactly correct. When I explained that you had celebrated our departure with a few toasts they crossed out ‘abandonment’ and wrote down ‘gross negligence.’
From Literature
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.
