negligible

adjective neg·li·gi·ble \ ˈne-gli-jə-bəl \

|Updated on: 11 Jul 2018

Examples: negligible in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of negligible

: 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

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negligibility

play \ˌne-gli-jə-ˈbi-lə-tē\ noun

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negligibly

play \ˈne-gli-jə-blē\ adverb

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Examples of negligible in a Sentence

A negligible amount of damage was done to the vehicle.
The price difference was negligible.

Recent Examples of negligible from the Web

None of this good news would have happened if the GOP had taken Mr. Bannon’s advice for a 44% top marginal tax rate and negligible cut in the corporate tax rate.

— the editorial board, WSJ, "Steve Bannon’s Bad Advice," 4 June 2018
The state said that its expanded regulations were meant to allow for more hunting, and that the long-term impact on the ecosystem was negligible.

— NBC News, "The fight over Alaska's hunting rules runs deeper than using doughnuts to bait bears," 14 June 2018
By international standards, the pace of bond defaults is still negligible.

— keith bradsher, New York Times, "As China Curbs Borrowing, Growth Shows Signs of Faltering," 14 June 2018
The difference between an NFL and a high school football is negligible.

— stephen holder, Indianapolis Star, "Andrew Luck throws a football. We repeat, Andrew Luck is throwing a football.," 12 June 2018
Even so, the impact on the economy likely will be negligible, economist Kathy Bostjancic of Oxford Economics says.

— paul davidson, USA TODAY, "The economy is humming. So why do experts foresee a recession in 2020?," 11 June 2018
The rates of screening right now under the age of 50 are negligible.

— jacqueline howard, CNN, "Colon and rectal cancer screenings should start at 45, new guidelines say," 30 May 2018
And there was an actual Tristan Thompson sighting, such was coach Ty Lue's desperation in Game 6, albeit to its usual negligible effect.

— bill livingston, cleveland.com, "Cleveland Cavaliers 2018 - Can even LeBron James win it by himself? Bill Livingston," 28 Apr. 2018
Yet these measures would likely have at best a negligible effect on the trade gap.

— greg ip, WSJ, "How the Tax Cut President Trump Loves Will Deepen Trade Deficits He Hates," 18 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'negligible.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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.

Origin and Etymology of negligible

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 ¹neglect

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1829

in the meaning defined above

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