neglect
/nɪˈɡlɛkt/verb, noun
neglect is spelled N-E-G-L-E-C-T: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 6.2 times per million words in written English, the 9,735th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, neglect means “To fail to care for or attend to something” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in neglect?
| Letters | 7: N-E-G-L-E-C-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 6.2 times per million words; the 9,735th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is neglect?
Neglect appears 6.2 times per million words in written English, the 9,735th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce neglect?
- /nɪˈɡlɛkt/
Neglect has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-neglect.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of neglect
- neglects present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- neglecting participle, present
- neglected participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does neglect mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To fail to care for or attend to something.
to neglect duty or business; to neglect to pay debts
- 2
To omit to notice; to forbear to treat with attention or respect; to slight.
to neglect strangers
- 3
To fail to do or carry out something due to oversight or carelessness.
- 4
To ignore for the sake of simplifying calculations without significantly affecting accuracy.
We can neglect this term, as it approaches zero in the limit anyway.
noun
- 1
The act of neglecting.
- 2
The state of being neglected.
- 3
Habitual lack of care.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Neglect in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | négliger , négligence |
| German | vernachlässigen, verabsäumen, versäumen, missachten, unterlassen, hintanstellen |
| Portuguese | negligenciar, descurar , negligência |
| Spanish | descuidar, negligir , negligencia , desoír, hacer caso omiso, desatender |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does neglect come from?
The verb is inherited from Middle English neglect, neclect, derived from Latin neglēctus, perfect passive participle of neglegō (“to make light of, disregard, not to pick up”), itself from nec (“not”) + legō (“to pick up, select”). The noun is from neglēctus (“neglect”). First attested in 1460, the noun in 1588.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).