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

Derived Forms

• ˈnegligently, adverb

Other Words From

• negli·gent·ly adverb
• non·negli·gent adjective
• non·negli·gent·ly adverb
• over·negli·gent adjective
• over·negli·gent·ly adverb
• pre·negli·gent adjective
• quasi-negli·gent adjective
• super·negli·gent adjective
• super·negli·gent·ly adverb
• un·negli·gent 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

Thurrock "believes that valuations of the solar assets undertaken by APSE, which they allowed the council to rely on, were negligent and overvalued those assets".

From BBC

District Judge Joanna Dickens, sitting at Swindon Magistrates Court, ruled the company was negligent, because "of the failure to install monitoring equipment at an earlier time".

From BBC

The Court of Session in Edinburgh has been told Scottish ministers were negligent when they claimed the scheme was viable.

From BBC

“The handling of what has happened in Valencia has been negligent and irresponsible,” wrote Isabel Díaz, a lawyer.

From BBC

His family alleges that the school “was negligent and careless by allowing students to harass, humiliate, and bully the plaintiff with impunity” and is seeking unspecified damages, according the lawsuit.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• inadvertent
• inattentive
• lax
• sloppy