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

The difference between a $45 plan and a $60 plan is negligible if your refrigerator breaks down and only the more expensive plan has a high enough coverage cap to completely replace it. —Alora Bopray, USA Today, 12 Mar. 2026

Understanding past oil shocks is important, but relying on them too heavily can encourage the wrong conclusion — that we are either headed for a 1979-style crisis or that the economic consequences will be negligible. —Alaa Shahine Salha, semafor.com, 11 Mar. 2026

Atleti forward Julian Alvarez saw his spot kick disallowed after the officials spotted an — arguably negligible — double touch. —Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2026

For short-term exposure or portfolio diversification, those costs may be negligible — but long-term investors may want to weigh them carefully. —Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 5 Mar. 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