negligence
noun
Simple meaning
The breach of a duty of care: the failure to exercise a standard of care that a reasonable person would have in a similar situation.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
nehgluhjuhnsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈnɛɡlədʒəns
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
lawuncountable
The breach of a duty of care: the failure to exercise a standard of care that a reasonable person would have in a similar situation.
The state of being negligent.
lawsingular only
The tort whereby a duty of reasonable care was breached, causing damage: any conduct short of intentional or reckless action that falls below the legal standard for preventing unreasonable injury.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
More ways to use negligence
- “The company was sued for its negligence in maintaining safety standards.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Negligence allocated between the plaintiff and the defendant with a corresponding reduction in damages paid to the plaintiff.
Negligence of two of more persons acting independently.
Behavior by the plaintiff that contributes to the harm resulting from the defendant's negligence.
Recklessly acting without reasonable caution and putting another person at risk of injury or death (or failing to do something with the same consequences).
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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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.