negligent

[neg-li-juhnt]

adjective

1. guilty of or characterized by neglect, as of duty.

   negligent officials.

   Synonyms: neglectful

2. lazily careless; offhand.

   a negligent wave of his manicured hand.

negligent

/ ˈnɛɡlɪdʒənt /

adjective

1. habitually neglecting duties, responsibilities, etc; lacking attention, care, or concern; neglectful

2. careless or nonchalant

Other Word Forms

• negligently adverb
• nonnegligent adjective
• nonnegligently adverb
• overnegligent adjective
• overnegligently adverb
• prenegligent adjective
• quasi-negligent adjective
• supernegligent adjective
• supernegligently adverb
• unnegligent adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of negligent¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, variant of necligent, from Latin necligent-, negligent-, stem of negligēns “disregarding,” present participle of negligere, variant of neglegere “to disregard, ignore, slight”; neglect

Example Sentences

Prosecutors eventually charged Lauren with assault and negligent discharge of a firearm.

From Los Angeles Times

Previous cases of food poisoning stemming from the free lunch programme have cited negligent food preparation as a suspected cause.

From BBC

A Maryland jury convicted Huger in December of driving under the influence and negligent driving charges.

From Los Angeles Times

Mr Tice said: "It is negligent not to even try to extract the energy treasure that can improve our economy, grow the economy, make people better off."

From BBC

"It's grossly financially negligent to a criminal degree to leave that value underground and not to extract it."

From BBC

Related Words

• inadvertent 
• inattentive 
• lax 
• sloppy