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.
"Negligent investigation and training by the security staff at Grandmaster Recorders led to this unfortunate arrest," the statement reads.
From Fox News • Jan. 18, 2022
She's Negligent for not appealing an Arbitration decision?
From New York Times • Dec. 19, 2016
Negligent they may have been, but few subjected their families to such obvious risk as Oscar Wilde had.
From The Guardian • Apr. 8, 2016
Negligent boards may find themselves facing questions from angry shareholders and customers after a cyber breach.
From Time • Oct. 21, 2014
That in discussing References, Appeals and Bills, They take care to purge out all, who upon due Tryal shall be found to be Insufficient, supinely Negligent, Scandalous or Erroneous.”
From The Acts Of The General Assemblies of the Church of Scotland by Church of Scotland. General Assembly
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.
