neglect
neglected; neglecting; neglects
Neglect is worse than ignoring something. It's ignoring it, failing to care for it, and probably harming it in the process.
The word neglect comes from the Latin verb neglegere, which means "disregarded." You can neglect to do your chores, meaning fail to do them, but this word is usually reserved for cases when you willingly refuse to care for something appropriately. Child neglect is what parents get charged with when they fail to provide for their child's basic needs. If you go on vacation and neglect your plants, they may wither and die due to your lack of attention.
Definitions of neglect
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leave undone or leave out
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fail to do something; leave something undone
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synonyms:
fail
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types:
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lose track
fail to keep informed or aware
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strike out
put out or be put out by a strikeout
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default, default on
fail to pay up
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choke
fail to perform adequately due to tension or agitation
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muff
fail to catch, as of a ball
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miss
fail to attend an event or activity
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fan
strike out (a batter), (of a pitcher)
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whiff
strike out by swinging and missing the pitch charged as the third
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cut, skip
intentionally fail to attend
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fail to attend to“he neglects his children”
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types:
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slack
be inattentive to, or neglect
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slack
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give little or no attention to
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the trait of neglecting responsibilities and lacking concern
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synonyms:
neglectfulness, negligence
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types:
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delinquency, dereliction, willful neglect
a tendency to be negligent and uncaring
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laxity, laxness, remissness, slackness
the quality of being lax and neglectful
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type of:
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carelessness, sloppiness
the quality of not being careful or taking pains
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delinquency, dereliction, willful neglect
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failure to act with the prudence that a reasonable person would exercise under the same circumstances
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synonyms:
carelessness, negligence, nonperformance
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types:
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dereliction
willful negligence
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comparative negligence
(law) negligence allocated between the plaintiff and the defendant with a corresponding reduction in damages paid to the plaintiff
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concurrent negligence
(law) negligence of two of more persons acting independently; the plaintiff may sue both together or separately
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contributory negligence
(law) behavior by the plaintiff that contributes to the harm resulting from the defendant's negligence
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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)
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neglect of duty
(law) breach of a duty
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dodging, escape, evasion
nonperformance of something distasteful (as by deceit or trickery) that you are supposed to do
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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
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escape mechanism
a form of behavior that evades unpleasant realities
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malingering, skulking
evading duty or work by pretending to be incapacitated
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goldbricking, goofing off, shirking, slacking, soldiering
the evasion of work or duty
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circumvention
the act of evading by going around
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type of:
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nonaccomplishment, nonachievement
an act that does not achieve its intended goal
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the state of something that has been unused and neglected“the house was in a terrible state of neglect”
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synonyms:
disuse
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types:
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omission
something that has been omitted
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type of:
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declination, decline
a condition inferior to an earlier condition; a gradual falling off from a better state
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omission
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lack of attention and due care
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synonyms:
disregard
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types:
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omission
neglecting to do something; leaving out or passing over something
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inadvertence, oversight
an unintentional omission resulting from failure to notice something
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pretermission
letting pass without notice
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elision, exception, exclusion
a deliberate act of omission
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type of:
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inattention
lack of attention
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willful lack of care and attention
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synonyms:
disregard
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types:
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despite
contemptuous disregard
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type of:
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mistreatment
the practice of treating (someone or something) badly
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despite
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘neglect'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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