neglected

1. 1
   adjective

   Suffering from a lack of proper care or attention; left uncared-for.

   Like a houseplant nobody remembers to water, slowly wilting in the corner.

   The neglected building had crumbling walls and shattered windows.

   Critics argued that the region's neglected schools needed urgent funding.

   Similarderelict, dilapidated, run-down, abandoned

   Oppositewell-kept

   Note

   Once it stands before a noun and takes degrees, the participle has become a true adjective: a more neglected district, the most neglected schools. It pairs readily with long, and long-neglected is hyphenated before a noun (a long-neglected rail route). Unlike the past-tense verb, it names a lasting condition rather than an act, so nobody has to be named as the one who did the neglecting.

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of neglect.

   The committee neglected to mention the budget shortfall.

   For decades, the city neglected its aging water pipes.

   Note

   One spelling does two jobs here. It is the plain past (the city neglected its pipes) and also the participle after have or be (the pipes had been neglected). Both keep the verb's two patterns: a direct object, or to plus a verb, as in neglected to mention. In calculation the verb has a deliberate sense too. A neglected term is one dropped on purpose to simplify the arithmetic without losing accuracy.

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