negligent

American  

[neg-li-juhnt] / ˈnɛg lɪ dʒənt /

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.

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negligent British  

/ ˈnɛɡlɪdʒənt /

adjective

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

2. careless or nonchalant

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Other Word Forms

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

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”; neglect

Example Sentences

On Wednesday, the ninth day of deliberation, the jury found that Meta and YouTube were negligent in a case that accused the companies of designing their apps to be addictive and harmful to teens.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026

The lawsuit says the venue is responsible for premises liability and Lamb for negligent hiring and supervision.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 23, 2026

Villamide and three other former senior officers are on trial for dereliction of duty and aggravated negligent destruction.

From Barron's • Mar. 4, 2026

Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, who was driving Joshua when their car crashed, has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, reckless and negligent driving, driving without due care, and driving without a valid driver's licence.

From BBC • Feb. 25, 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

Related Words

• inadvertent
• inattentive
• lax
• sloppy