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

While some short throw projectors allow for 4K resolution, the difference between a high-quality 1080p projector and a budget model capable of producing a 4K image is negligible and does not warrant the extra expense. —Bestreviews, Mercury News, 22 Dec. 2025

Toho said the acquisition and alliance are expected to have a negligible impact on its consolidated financial results for the current fiscal year, with the focus instead on medium- to long-term growth. —Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 19 Dec. 2025

Private credit allocations from Middle Eastern family offices have steadily increased from negligible in 2021 to around 2% of portfolios, picking up in 2022 when an end to zero-interest rate policies among central banks and slowing public markets began to push borrowers toward nonbank lenders. —Kelsey Warner, semafor.com, 16 Dec. 2025

Rescheduling marijuana would bring negligible changes in criminal justice reform, and critics accuse the president of political opportunism. —Nathaniel Weixel, The Hill, 15 Dec. 2025

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