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

• 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

At those prices—with negligible marketing expenses, thanks to his role as head of state—that income is surely almost all profit. —David D. Kirkpatrick, New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2025

The 2017-18 ICO boom did lead to the growth of scam tokens, but that’s negligible collateral damage. —Lawrence Wintermeyer, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2025

The deal, as structured, means the city will lease the property to the developer for what Noah Fleishman, a financial analyst in the Office of the Independent Budget Analyst, described as a negligible sum — or $15,000 per year. —Jennifer Van Grove, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 July 2025

Its potential cost to the state was estimated to be negligible in multiple analyses by the Legislative Budget Board. —Bayliss Wagner, Austin American Statesman, 25 July 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