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

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

• chicken
• de minimis
• footling
• inconsequential
• inconsiderable
• insignificant
• measly
• Mickey Mouse
• minute
• niggling
• no-account
• nominal
• paltry
• peanut
• petty
• picayune
• piddling
• piddly
• piffling
• pimping
• slight
• trifling
• trivial

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

And at some of the busiest airports, the wait times have had negligible increases or even decreased. —Rebecca Santana, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2024

Located in a good jurisdiction, with negligible environmental impact, infrastructure availability, friendly landowners, proximity to an international port and to major potential consumers are some of the qualities that will allow Gratomic to fast track this asset into a profitable operation. —Miami Herald, 3 Apr. 2024

And the worst-case scenario — foreclosures — is up but remains negligible. —Jonathan Lansner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Mar. 2024

Experts described the law's overall effect to the state as negligible in a retrospective article in The Arizona Republic three years ago. —The Arizona Republic, 28 Feb. 2024

Perfect for packing on a trip, the Align pant is wrinkle-resistant and takes up negligible suitcase space. —Theresa Holland, Travel + Leisure, 16 Feb. 2024

Savings after selling a big home and buying a smaller one are negligible Older homeowners who want to downsize have been scared into staying put by how expensive a smaller home would be in the current market. —Anna Bahney, CNN, 29 Jan. 2024

The benefit of returning patrons has far outweighed the negligible revenue the library used to collect in late fees, Sutherland said. —Danny Nguyen, Washington Post, 24 Jan. 2024

Recent gains are entirely attributable to the rise of electric vehicles, with hybrids playing a negligible role. —Lawrence Ulrich, New York Times, 17 Jan. 2024

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