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

But the supply of homes at that price is negligible. —Nick Rosenberger, Idaho Statesman, 17 Apr. 2024

Even offensively — though his counting stats are negligible — the Warriors often look their best when Payton is on the court and healthy. —Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 15 Apr. 2024

Russia is a key exporter of metals like aluminum, steel and titanium — but British and American officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the announcement, said the economic impact from the ban would be negligible for consumers and producers. —Fatima Hussein, Quartz, 12 Apr. 2024

But a local installer said the overall impact will be negligible. —Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Apr. 2024

Second, even if the motion to change venue were denied, any potential adverse impact upon the juror pool because of the survey will be not only negligible due to the small number of jurors contacted, but also addressable via voir dire. —Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 28 Mar. 2024

But those costs and the need to reconfigure existing regulatory laws (which need to be enhanced anyway) are negligible concerns compared to those of over-regulation. —Clyde Wayne Crews Jr., Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024

Until now, Samet has shown negligible romantic interest in this young woman, but his competitive instincts are awakened by her unexpected chemistry with Kenan. —Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2024

According to this argument, one new person would constitute such a tiny percentage of the overall contribution to climate change and other environmental problems that the impact would be morally negligible. —Trevor Hedberg, The Conversation, 15 Feb. 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