as in negligence
failure to carefully think about, listen to, or watch someone or something
Many traffic accidents are the result of driver inattention. They lost several potential clients through their inattention to detail.
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Recent Examples of inattention
The riot in western New York began Sept. 9, 1971, when prisoners — angered by prison officials' inattention to demands for better living conditions and rights — seized control of the penitentiary.
—
Michael Collins, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025
There may be benefits in addressing some symptoms, like inattention or emotional control, but not in impulsivity or other behaviors.
—Heather Jones, Verywell Health, 10 Oct. 2025
Among the inattention indicators the system tracks are head nodding or tilting, yawning, change in eye blink rate, long eyelid closures (indicating something called microsleeps), and gaze drifting from the road for extended periods (what happens when people text and drive).
—IEEE Spectrum, 6 Sep. 2025
It’s characterized by patterns of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity.
—Cara Lynn Shultz, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inattention
Michael Collins, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025
There may be benefits in addressing some symptoms, like inattention or emotional control, but not in impulsivity or other behaviors.
—Heather Jones, Verywell Health, 10 Oct. 2025
Among the inattention indicators the system tracks are head nodding or tilting, yawning, change in eye blink rate, long eyelid closures (indicating something called microsleeps), and gaze drifting from the road for extended periods (what happens when people text and drive).
—IEEE Spectrum, 6 Sep. 2025
It’s characterized by patterns of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity.
—Cara Lynn Shultz, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inattention
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inattention
Noun
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The owner of Cosentino, a Spanish quartz-slab giant being sued by Peña and many workers, received a six-month prison sentence for gross negligence in 2023.—
Ethan Baron,
Mercury News,
16 Mar. 2026
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Just one of the complaints, a general negligence suit, names Santorio as a defendant.—
Alexandra Glorioso,
Miami Herald,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Attorneys representing inmates there said the facility’s culture of violence and inattentiveness led to two suicides and at least 10 severe beatings and stabbings in its final year of operation.—
Matthew Kelly,
Kansas City Star,
11 Mar. 2026
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That inattentiveness to cleaning the floor extended to the bottom shelf of a kitchen prep table and the top shelf of a prep table next to the cookline, each shelf dotted with 100 rodent droppings.—
David J. Neal,
Miami Herald,
19 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Inattention.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inattention. Accessed 17 Mar. 2026.
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