neglect

Formsneglects, neglecting, neglected

1. 1
   verbtransitive

   To fail to care for or attend to something that needs attention.

   Busy parents sometimes neglect their own needs while caring for their children.

   The landlord neglected the building for years, and the roof eventually collapsed.

   Similarignore, abandon

   Oppositemaintain, tend

   Note

   The core verb, and its Latin parts still show through: neglegō joined nec, "not," with legō, "pick up, select." At root, to neglect is to not pick something up. Shakespeare and Milton use it of designs, grace and duty, while The Economist uses it of old sewers. The object is whatever needed tending, and the verb lays the fault on whoever left it lying.

2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To overlook doing something or fail to do it through carelessness.

   Drivers who neglect routine maintenance risk costly breakdowns later.

   She neglected to mention the deadline in her email.

   Similarforget, omit, fail, skip

   Oppositeremember

   Note

   Here the verb takes a to-infinitive: neglect to mention, neglect to label. That construction separates it from the caring-for meaning, whose object is a thing or a person. Richard Schickel's 1972 piece in Life shows the pattern: a critic praised The Godfather but neglected to label it a masterpiece. What is missing is a single act left undone, not a long failure of care.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The condition of being uncared for or left unattended over time.

   The garden's neglect was obvious from the waist-high weeds.

   Decades of neglect had reduced the once-grand theater to rubble.

   Similardisrepair, dereliction, abandonment

   Oppositeupkeep, care

4. 4
   noununcountable

   The action of failing to give proper care or attention to something.

   Her neglect of the accounts led to a string of serious errors.

   The inquiry blamed the disaster on the company's neglect of maintenance schedules.

   Similarnegligence, disregard

   Oppositecare, attention

   Note

   The noun arrived well after the verb. The verb is recorded from before 1460, but the noun only from 1588. It is usually followed by of and the thing left untended, as in neglect of the accounts or neglect of maintenance. It can be used both as a countable and an uncountable noun.

5. 5
   noununcountable

   A habitual or ongoing lack of care toward someone or something.

   The patient had suffered years of neglect in the understaffed home.

   Chronic neglect of the equipment led to frequent and dangerous failures.

   Similarnegligence, abandonment

   Oppositecare

6. 6
   verbtransitive

   To fail to notice, or to treat without proper attention or respect; to slight.

   Hosts who neglect their quieter guests can seem rude.

   The committee neglected the smaller departments in its budget.

   Similarignore, overlook, slight, disregard

7. 7
   verbtransitive

   To leave a quantity out of a calculation to simplify it, when doing so does not significantly affect accuracy.

   For low speeds, we neglect air resistance in the equations of motion.

   The model neglects thermal expansion because the temperature change is tiny.

   Similarignore, disregard, discount, omit

   Oppositeinclude

   Note

   A working word in mathematics and the sciences, where neglecting something is a deliberate choice rather than a lapse. The object is a term, an effect or a force: neglect air resistance, or neglect a term that approaches zero in the limit. The justification is always that the quantity is too small to matter. That makes this the one sense that carries no blame, the opposite of the careless omission.

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