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
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.
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
Impacts on air travel have been negligible so far.
—
Zach Wichter, USA Today, 6 Oct. 2025
Quarterback and tight end are a bit complicated because the low-end of starters at each position provide negligible value over replacement.
—Jakob Sanderson, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
Venezuela’s military is not negligible, but readiness has been eroded by decades of economic crisis, sanctions and maintenance shortfalls.
—Robert Muggah, The Conversation, 2 Oct. 2025
By replacing this flawed model with one that accurately accounts for SANS physics, the team demonstrated that porosity has a negligible effect on reactor physics or criticality safety.
—Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 1 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for negligible
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Zach Wichter, USA Today, 6 Oct. 2025
Quarterback and tight end are a bit complicated because the low-end of starters at each position provide negligible value over replacement.
—Jakob Sanderson, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
Venezuela’s military is not negligible, but readiness has been eroded by decades of economic crisis, sanctions and maintenance shortfalls.
—Robert Muggah, The Conversation, 2 Oct. 2025
By replacing this flawed model with one that accurately accounts for SANS physics, the team demonstrated that porosity has a negligible effect on reactor physics or criticality safety.
—Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 1 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for negligible
Cite this Entry
“Negligible.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/negligible. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids 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
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