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

To Georgia, the cost of guarantee games is negligible: its coach, Kirby Smart, has a salary bigger than UMass’s entire budget. —Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2024

Of that sum, traditional album sales contribute 1,000, streaming activity comprises 66,000 units, while the remaining negligible number of units stem from track-equivalent album units. —Pamela Bustios, Billboard, 25 Nov. 2024

Half of accessibility efforts will have negligible CX impact. —Forrester, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024

Prosecution could act as a deterrent for potential future offenders -- though a prison sentence would be highly unlikely, and the fine could be considered negligible to a billionaire, Spencer added. —Max Zahn, ABC News, 24 Oct. 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