dereliction

/ˈdɛrəˌlɪkʃən/

Other forms: derelictions

Dereliction is a word for neglecting responsibilities. Failing to care for your family or do your job are examples of dereliction.

If you are letting things go, you are engaged in dereliction. Not mowing your lawn is an example of dereliction; so is not feeding your children. Someone can be fired for dereliction of duty, meaning they have failed to do their job. Dereliction is the opposite of diligence, a quality of people who are hard-working. It might help you to remember this word if you know that homeless people are sometimes called derelicts, implying that they are not able to care for themselves.

Definitions of dereliction

1. noun

   willful negligence
   types:

   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

   type of:

   actus reus, misconduct, wrongdoing, wrongful conduct

   activity that transgresses moral or civil law

   carelessness, neglect, negligence, nonperformance

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

   a tendency to be negligent and uncaring
   “his derelictions were not really intended as crimes”

   synonyms: delinquency, willful neglect

   type of:

   neglect, neglectfulness, negligence

   the trait of neglecting responsibilities and lacking concern