nonfeasance

American

[non-fee-zuhns] / nɒnˈfi zəns /

noun

Law.

the omission of some act that ought to have been performed.

nonfeasance British

/ ˌnɒnˈfiːzəns /

noun

law a failure to act when under an obligation to do so Compare malfeasance misfeasance

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of nonfeasance

1590–1600; non- + obsolete feasance; see malfeasance

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.

See Examples For:

nonfeasance

“The only question that remains is whether this is nonfeasance or malfeasance,” he said.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 29, 2022

This Gil was incredibly easy to work for, to the point of complete nonfeasance.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 23, 2015

Will they ever hold a hearing to find out the source of their own nonfeasance?

From New York Times ● May 30, 2014

But what have New Yorkers been if not blindsided by incessant malfeasance and nonfeasance in the state capital?

From New York Times ● Mar. 8, 2010

The neglect which occasioned the damage might be a mere omission, and what was there akin to trespass in a nonfeasance to sustain the analogy upon which trespass on the case was founded?

From The Common Law by Oliver Wendell Holmes

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023