negligence - Definition | Dictionary definition of negligence

Definition of negligence

failure to act with the prudence that a reasonable person would exercise under the same circumstances

Types:: show 12 types...; hide 12 types...; dereliction
willful negligence; nonfeasance
a failure to act when under an obligation to do so; a refusal (without sufficient excuse) to do that which it is your legal duty to do; comparative negligence
(law) negligence allocated between the plaintiff and the defendant with a corresponding reduction in damages paid to the plaintiff; concurrent negligence
(law) negligence of two of more persons acting independently; the plaintiff may sue both together or separately; contributory negligence
(law) behavior by the plaintiff that contributes to the harm resulting from the defendant's negligence; criminal negligence, culpable negligence
(law) recklessly acting without reasonable caution and putting another person at risk of injury or death (or failing to do something with the same consequences); neglect of duty
(law) breach of a duty; dodging, escape, evasion
nonperformance of something distasteful (as by deceit or trickery) that you are supposed to do; escape mechanism
a form of behavior that evades unpleasant realities; malingering, skulking
evading duty or work by pretending to be incapacitated; goldbricking, goofing off, shirking, slacking, soldiering
the evasion of work or duty; circumvention
the act of evading by going around

Type of:: nonaccomplishment, nonachievement
an act that does not achieve its intended goal

the trait of neglecting responsibilities and lacking concern

Types:: delinquency, dereliction, willful neglect
a tendency to be negligent and uncaring; laxity, laxness, remissness, slackness
the quality of being lax and neglectful

Type of:: carelessness, sloppiness
the quality of not being careful or taking pains