Negligible

So small or unimportant as to be not worth considering; nearly negligible.

adjective

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Imagine This

Imagine measuring a difference of 0.01 units on a scale, but the scale's margin of error is 0.1 units— that tiny difference is negligible in the grand result.

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Sounds Like

neh-GLIJ-uh-buhl

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Looks Like

Visually resembles words like negligent or neglect due to the shared root, though the meanings differ.

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Remember This

Negligible comes from the idea that something can be neglected; it shares a root with neglect (neglegere).

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Other Forms

negligiblyadverb

negligibilitynoun

negligiblenessnoun

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Connect With

insignificant, trivial, minor, minuscule, nominal

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Note

Use before nouns (a negligible difference, a negligible amount). Do not confuse with negligent (careless) or neglect (to ignore)—they are related but distinct in meaning.

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Study Deeper

Examples

The difference between the two prices was negligible, so we chose the cheaper option.
In the experiment, the measurement error was larger than the observed effect, making the result negligible.

Synonyms

insignificanttrivialminorminusculenominal

Antonyms

significantsubstantialconsiderable

Etymology

From Latin neglegibilis 'able to be neglected', from neglegere 'to neglect' (neg- = not + legere = to gather/attend). The word entered English to describe something so small it can be neglected.

Mnemonic

Neglect-able: remember that negligible means so small it is almost neglect-able; if it were larger, it would not be negligible.