1
Core meaning
Failure to give someone or something the care, attention, or maintenance that is required.
Example
Years of neglect left the bridge unsafe.
neglect
/nɪˈɡlekt/ · nih-GLEKTnoun
Failure to give someone or something the care, attention, or maintenance that is required.
Use neglect to express this relationship precisely: failure to give someone or something the care, attention, or maintenance that is required.
What neglect Really Means
The word becomes easier to use when its closely related senses are separated and compared.
2
Common noun frame
Use this noun in a complete noun phrase, adding the complement that identifies what it refers to when needed.
Example
The report blamed the loss on neglect rather than deliberate destruction.
3
Analytical distinction
Choose it when this exact concept matters; a related term may describe its cause, evidence, or opposite instead.
Example
Routine maintenance prevents small defects from becoming costly through neglect.
Use neglect Naturally
Notice how the surrounding noun or clause reveals the exact shade of meaning.
Years of neglect left the bridge unsafe.
The report blamed the loss on neglect rather than deliberate destruction.
Routine maintenance prevents small defects from becoming costly through neglect.
Precision Matters
Neglect overlaps with several common words, but each carries a different emphasis.
neglect
vs.Means failure to give someone or something the care, attention, or maintenance that is required.
apathy
Means a lack of interest, concern, emotion, or enthusiasm.
neglect
vs.Means failure to give someone or something the care, attention, or maintenance that is required.
scrutiny
Means close, careful, and often critical examination.
neglect
vs.Means failure to give someone or something the care, attention, or maintenance that is required.
adulation
Means excessive admiration, praise, or public devotion directed toward someone.
neglect
vs.Means failure to give someone or something the care, attention, or maintenance that is required.
censure
Means strong formal criticism or official disapproval.
Test neglect in Context
The archive repeatedly failed to receive the care it required.
1
The archive deteriorated not because of one disaster but through decades of ___.