1
as in abandonment
the act of abandoning
the dereliction by the owners of a once flourishing orchard
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in negligence
failure to take the care that a cautious person usually takes
the ski area was not held responsible for the injury on account of the skier's own manifest dereliction
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in neglect
the nonperformance of an assigned or expected action
both sentries were to be court-martialed for dereliction of duty
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in weakness
a defect in character
believes that society is guilty of a moral dereliction if it does not care for those unable to care for themselves
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dereliction
Three Army Reserve leaders were disciplined for dereliction of duty.
—
Jade Walker, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2025
Three Army Reserve leaders were disciplined for dereliction of duty, according to the report.
—Holly Ramer, Chicago Tribune, 3 Sep. 2025
There are consequences for dereliction of duty.
—Aysha Bagchi, USA Today, 5 Aug. 2025
There are consequences for dereliction of duty.
—Saul Elbein, The Hill, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dereliction
Jade Walker, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2025
Three Army Reserve leaders were disciplined for dereliction of duty, according to the report.
—Holly Ramer, Chicago Tribune, 3 Sep. 2025
There are consequences for dereliction of duty.
—Aysha Bagchi, USA Today, 5 Aug. 2025
There are consequences for dereliction of duty.
—Saul Elbein, The Hill, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dereliction
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dereliction
Noun
-
Some 64 years later, the development is officially coming down, following years of decay, neglect and abandonment.—
Eric Adler,
Kansas City Star,
4 Feb. 2026
-
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the legislature should act on the report’s recommendations with actions to strengthen reporting, enforce existing laws, prevent further abandonment of wells and ensure polluters pay for cleanup.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Plaintiffs in the Los Angeles bellwether and related cases have sought to get around those protections by relying on claims about corporate negligence and flawed product design, similar to those brought against opioid maker Purdue Pharma in recent years and Big Tobacco in the 1990s.—
Sonja Sharp,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Google similarly denies any claims of negligence.—
Nancy Dillon,
Rolling Stone,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
State child welfare workers declined to open investigations into abuse or neglect in these instances, yet referred them to law enforcement anyway.—
Shoshana Walter,
CBS News,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Several cool props gestured to historical infrastructural neglect and botched Hurricane Maria recovery efforts.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
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If your goal is to get at the truth, or at least our closest approximation of it at the present time, the way to do that is to be scrupulous and forthright about the strengths and weaknesses of every link in your chain of argument.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
10 Feb. 2026
-
This can raise resting heart rate, increase weakness and fatigue, and reduce endurance—even during everyday activities, not just exercise.—
Katharine Gammon,
Time,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Eddie Slovik was executed by a firing squad for desertion, the first American soldier since the Civil War to be executed in such a manner and the only soldier in World War II to receive such a punishment.—
Arizona Republic,
AZCentral.com,
30 Jan. 2026
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Its defense minister last week reported some 200,000 troop desertions, and draft-dodging by about 2 million Ukrainians.—
Kamila Hrabchuk,
Fortune,
24 Jan. 2026
Noun
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But does exchanging flirty messages with Ghislaine Maxwell while he was married three years before Jeffrey Epstein was first publicly accused of wrongdoing in 2006 really constitute a career-ending sin?—
James Hibberd,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Easter is the Christian celebration of Jesus Christ's victory over sin and death through his resurrection.—
Chris Sims,
IndyStar,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
When a vehicle loses power, however, electronic doors go from an inconvenience to a potentially lethal design fault.—
Adam Ismail,
The Drive,
5 Feb. 2026
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When the tectonic plates began to pull apart millions of years later, those ancient faults at their edges reawakened, reincarnated as transform faults.—
Evan Howell,
Scientific American,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The report claimed these changes were made to minimize the city and fire department’s failings.—
Barnini Chakraborty,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Feb. 2026
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Foster acknowledged state efforts to hold the district accountable have at times been justified, including in 2023 when TEA investigated chronic failings in the district’s special education department.—
Keri Heath,
Austin American Statesman,
5 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dereliction.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dereliction. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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