How to spell negligible

hear itneg·li·gi·ble/'nɛglɪdʒəbəl/adjectiveSchwa and roots

What it means: So small it can be ignored.

In a sentence: The tiny ant's weight is negligible compared to an elephant.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as negliable or neglible.

Same family: negligence, negligent, negligently, neglect, ignored. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Negligible” comes from the Latin verb “neglegere,” meaning “to disregard” or “not pick up.” It is closely related to “neglect” and “negligence,” all carrying the idea of something being so small or unimportant that it can be overlooked.

Patterns it uses: -able or -ible? · The unstressed vowel (schwa)

Try spelling it

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Words like this

horrible · eligible · invincible · legible · sensible · invisible · tangible · edible

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