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

Wuterich maintained he could not remember what had happened in Safa's house, and agreed to plead guilty to one count of negligent dereliction of duty - a charge unrelated to any direct involvement in the killings.

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He was convicted of assault with a firearm, illegal possession of a firearm and negligent discharge of a gun, following a two-week trial that featured tearful testimony from Pete.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Sonia accuses Northamptonshire Police of being negligent in following up on the domestic abuse case.

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Ethan’s mother left when he was a young boy, leaving him in the care of his negligent, drug-addicted father; Sarah did not rush to the rescue.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Authorities have opened an investigation into possible negligent driving over the crash.

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Related Words

• inadvertent 
• inattentive 
• lax 
• sloppy