as in careless
failing to give proper care and attention
he's certainly not a neglectful father as he takes very good care of his children
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Recent Examples of neglectful
One of the tale’s bitterest ironies is that Victor will become a more demanding, more neglectful, and vastly more destructive father figure than Leopold ever was.
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Justin Chang, New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2025
But his past haunts him, especially his childhood with an alcoholic, emotionally neglectful father (Stephen Graham) and loving but turbulent mother (Gaby Hoffman).
—Katie Walsh, Boston Herald, 23 Oct. 2025
But his past haunts him, especially his childhood with an alcoholic, emotionally neglectful father (Stephen Graham) and loving but turbulent mother (Gabby Hoffman).
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 22 Oct. 2025
Leaning into the disco-country of much of Man’s Best Friend, Carpenter sings about a neglectful lover.
—Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for neglectful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for neglectful
Adjective
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The driver of the truck was cited for careless driving; the vehicle was not equipped with chains, but chains were not required under state law in Friday morning’s conditions, according to Colorado State Patrol.—
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Drug, alcohol, careless living.—
Adjective
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Saturday morning appeared more like a lazy weekday morning at SMF — plenty of curbside pickup spaces and ticketing agents offering extra attention — than the frontline of a nationwide transportation crunch.—
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It’s made with a soft, cozy knit, but the sleek silhouette keeps it from veering into lazy-day territory.—
Adjective
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Those only include what the police classify as murders or non-negligent manslaughter.—
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The lawsuit accused the automaker of being negligent in the design and manufacturing of the Cybertruck, alleging that the crash forces Sheehan experienced were survivable but that doors couldn’t be opened once power was lost.—
Adjective
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This stretch of the park, an object of fascination for Urbano, contains an array of a hundred or so different models of public gaslights, now obsolete and semi-derelict.—
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Fans of dark storytelling will find cruel necromancers, derelict mansions and strange alchemies in this page-turning epic.—
Cite this Entry
“Neglectful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/neglectful. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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