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
- negligently adverb
- nonnegligent adjective
- nonnegligently adverb
- overnegligent adjective
- overnegligently adverb
- prenegligent adjective
- quasi-negligent adjective
- supernegligent adjective
- supernegligently adverb
- unnegligent adjective
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”; neglect
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.
Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, who was driving Joshua when their car crashed, has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, reckless and negligent driving, driving without due care, and driving without a valid driver's licence.
From BBC
Whistleblowers called his medical care “grossly negligent” and experts later said Cruz could have survived with appropriate care, according to the ACLU’s report.
From Salon
An Austrian climber has been found guilty of gross negligent manslaughter after his girlfriend froze to death on Austria's highest mountain last year.
From BBC
More than a year after a 33-year-old woman froze to death on Austria's highest mountain, her boyfriend goes on trial on Thursday accused of gross negligent manslaughter.
From BBC
She said it was "negligent" it had taken nearly a year since the inquest for the consultation to begin.
From BBC
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.
