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

Governments, however, have been "insanely negligent" about the gravity of the problem, warned cybercrime expert Erin West.

Read more on Barron's

His 43-year-old father has been arrested and is expected to be charged with negligent handling of a firearm.

Read more on BBC

District Court in Los Angeles on Tuesday claims that Edison was negligent in designing, constructing and maintaining its high-voltage transmission line that runs through Sylmar.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

She was convicted in December of driving under the influence and negligent driving, among other charges.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Robertson noted that his complaint did not include the Los Angeles Fire Department: California government code gives it broad immunity against claims of negligent firefighting.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• inadvertent 
• inattentive 
• lax 
• sloppy