negligible

adjective

neg·​li·​gi·​ble ˈne-gli-jə-bəl 

: so small or unimportant or of so little consequence as to warrant little or no attention : trifling

a negligible error

last year sales were negligible

a negligible risk

a negligible effect

… was suffering terribly from the bad reviews and negligible sales of his first book …

—E. L. Doctorow

negligibility

ˌne-gli-jə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

negligibly

ˈne-gli-jə-blē 

adverb

Did you know?

Negligible comes from the same Latin verb as neglect, so something negligible is literally "neglectable". If an accident results in negligible damage to your car, you should be thankful. If two years of intense focus on testing in the classroom results in a negligible improvement in student test scores, it's probably time to try something new.

Synonyms of negligible

• nominal
• slight
• insignificant
• trivial
• tiny

Examples of negligible in a Sentence

A negligible amount of damage was done to the vehicle.

The price difference was negligible.

Recent Examples on the Web

So often, egg-freezing is framed as an empowering choice, but the costs attached to it are not negligible. — Anna Russell, New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2026

The numbers backing him have been negligible — and fairly costly. — ABC News, 13 Aug. 2026

As reported by The Baltimore Sun in 2023, the final legislation was so riddled with exemptions that the revenue from it was negligible in comparison to other jurisdictions. — David Plymyer, Baltimore Sun, 13 Aug. 2026

The promise of ever-lower compliance burdens, favorable labor requirements, negligible tax burdens all combined to push shippers into a race to the lowest cost. — Craig Hooper, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Latinization of French négligeable, from négliger "to disregard, neglect" (going back to Middle French negliger, borrowed from Latin neglegere, neclegere "to disregard, do nothing about") + -able -able — more at neglect entry 1

First Known Use

1829, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

negligible

adjective

neg·​li·​gi·​ble ˈneg-li-jə-bəl 

: so small or unimportant as to deserve little or no attention

a negligible error

negligibly

-blē 

adverb