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

This is because Russia’s military capabilities are already stretched and its leverage over the belligerents is negligible. —Hanna Notte, Foreign Affairs, 15 July 2024

The other 14 said the difference between the two agendas would be negligible. —Rebecca Picciotto, CNBC, 12 July 2024

Traditional album sales contributed 8,000 units, while a negligible amount of activity stemmed from track-equivalent sales activity. —Trevor Anderson, Billboard, 2 July 2024

Candidates with negligible first-choice support would be eliminated, and their supporters’ votes would shift to their second-choice picks until two candidates remain, after which the candidate with the most votes would win. —Ian Max Stevenson, Idaho Statesman, 2 July 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