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
… was suffering terribly from the bad reviews and negligible sales of his first book …—
E. L. Doctorow
E. L. Doctorow
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.
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
Ember finds that solar accounted for about 9% of India’s electricity generation in 2025, up from around half a percent a decade earlier, while China, at a similar income level in 2012, had negligible solar generation.
—Ingmar Rentzhog, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
Attempts to quantify the impact by focusing on in-season managerial changes seem to indicate that the effect is minimal to negligible.
—Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 15 May 2026
The report released Thursday asserts that reimbursements to the city for personal charges were negligible.
—Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 14 May 2026
The effort went on to gain momentum into the general election but had a negligible impact on the election results.
—Torrey Snow, Baltimore Sun, 13 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for negligible
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Ingmar Rentzhog, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
Attempts to quantify the impact by focusing on in-season managerial changes seem to indicate that the effect is minimal to negligible.
—Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 15 May 2026
The report released Thursday asserts that reimbursements to the city for personal charges were negligible.
—Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 14 May 2026
The effort went on to gain momentum into the general election but had a negligible impact on the election results.
—Torrey Snow, Baltimore Sun, 13 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for negligible
Cite this Entry
“Negligible.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/negligible. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
Copy CitationKids 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
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