The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
NEGLECT
disregard, neglect
(noun) willful lack of care and attention
negligence, carelessness, neglect, nonperformance
(noun) failure to act with the prudence that a reasonable person would exercise under the same circumstances
negligence, neglect, neglectfulness
(noun) the trait of neglecting responsibilities and lacking concern
disregard, neglect
(noun) lack of attention and due care
neglect, disuse
(noun) the state of something that has been unused and neglected; “the house was in a terrible state of neglect”
neglect, pretermit, omit, drop, miss, leave out, overlook, overleap
(verb) leave undone or leave out; “How could I miss that typo?”; “The workers on the conveyor belt miss one out of ten”
neglect
(verb) fail to attend to; “he neglects his children”
neglect, ignore, disregard
(verb) give little or no attention to; “Disregard the errors”
fail, neglect
(verb) fail to do something; leave something undone; “She failed to notice that her child was no longer in his crib”; “The secretary failed to call the customer and the company lost the account”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
neglect (third-person singular simple present neglects, present participle neglecting, simple past and past participle neglected)
(transitive) To fail to care for or attend to something.
(transitive) To omit to notice; to forbear to treat with attention or respect; to slight.
(transitive) To fail to do or carry out something due to oversight or carelessness.
Synonyms
• (fail to care for): let slide
• (to omit to notice): disregard, take no notice of; see also ignore
• (failure due to carelessness): fail, forget
Antonyms
• (fail to care for): care, mind, reck; see also care
• (to omit to notice): consider, notice, regard; see also pay attention
Noun
neglect (countable and uncountable, plural neglects)
The act of neglecting.
The state of being neglected.
Habitual lack of care.
Synonyms
• carelessness
• negligence
Antonyms
• consideration
• notice
• regard
Source: Wiktionary
Neg*lect", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Neglected; p. pr. & vb. n. Neglecting.] Etym: [L. neglectus, p.p. of neglegere (negligere) to disregard, neglect, the literal sense prob. neing, not to pick up; nec not, nor (fr. ne not + -que, a particle akin to Goth. -h, -uh, and prob. to E. who; cf. Goth. nih nor) + L. legere to pick up, gather. See No, adv., Legend, Who.]
1. Not to attend to with due care or attention; to forbear one's duty in regard to; to suffer to pass unimproved, unheeded, undone, etc.; to omit; to disregard; to slight; as, to neglect duty or business; to neglect to pay debts. I hope My absence doth neglect no great designs. Shak. This, my long suffering and my day of grace, Those who neglect and scorn shall never taste. Milton.
2. To omit to notice; to forbear to treat with attention or respect; to slight; as, to neglect strangers.
Syn.
– To slight; overlook; disregard; disesteem; contemn. See Slight.
Neg*lect", n. Etym: [L. neglectus. See Neglect, v.]
1. Omission of proper attention; avoidance or disregard of duty, from heedlessness, indifference, or willfulness; failure to do, use, or heed anything; culpable disregard; as, neglect of business, of health, of economy. To tell thee sadly, shepherd, without blame, Or our neglect, we lost her as we came. Milton.
2. Omission if attention or civilities; slight; as, neglect of strangers.
3. Habitual carelessness; negligence. Age breeds neglect in all. Denham.
4. The state of being disregarded, slighted, or neglected. Rescue my poor remains from vile neglect. Prior.
Syn.
– Negligence; inattention; disregard; disesteem; remissness; indifference. See Negligence.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
23 January 2025
LEFT
(adjective) being or located on or directed toward the side of the body to the west when facing north; “my left hand”; “left center field”; “the left bank of a river is bank on your left side when you are facing downstream”
Coffee Trivia
