negligent
Americanadjective
-
guilty of or characterized by neglect, as of duty.
negligent officials.
- Synonyms:
- neglectful
-
lazily careless; offhand.
a negligent wave of his manicured hand.
adjective
-
habitually neglecting duties, responsibilities, etc; lacking attention, care, or concern; neglectful
-
careless or nonchalant
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of negligent
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”; see neglect
Explanation
Use negligent when you want to describe someone who just doesn't give a hoot. You can be negligent at work if you let the work pile up while you play computer games, or you can be negligent at home if you haven't fed your fish for six days straight. The adjective negligent comes from the Latin word neglegentia, meaning "carelessness." Other words that share the same roots include the noun negligence and neglect — which has both noun and verb forms. All three words have meanings that imply the same sort of thing — a lack of attention to the well being of something or someone.
Vocabulary lists containing negligent
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 7
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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.
Specter told the Chicago federal civil court that Boeing was "negligent", the aircraft was "unsafe" and that "Boeing caused this crash and these deaths."
From Barron's • May 14, 2026
YouTube and Meta recently lost a landmark social-media addiction trial, with a jury finding the companies negligent for operating products that harmed children.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026
In one case, a Los Angeles jury found that Meta and YouTube were negligent for designing addictive features that harmed the mental health of a California woman.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2026
This includes any "grossly negligent action or inaction of individuals", it said.
From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026
Like, I don’t want to be a negligent friend, but I don’t know how to help Morgan if I can’t even talk to her.
From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli
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.
