Failure to act in a way that a reasonable and prudent person would under similar circumstances.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
negligence (noun)1.
a) the quality or state of being - negligent
b) failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances
2.
an act or instance of being negligent
Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus
negligence (noun)1.
failure to take the care that a cautious person usually takes
SYNONYMS:
carelessness, dereliction, heedlessness, incaution, incautiousness, laxness, neglectfulness, remissness, slacknessRELATED WORDS:
foolhardiness, rashness, recklessness, wildness; neglect, omission; delinquency, irresponsibility, irresponsibleness, malfeasance, malpractice, misconduct; misdirection, mishandling, mismanagement; forgetfulness, inadvertence, inadvertency, inattention, inattentiveness, obliviousness, shortsightedness, unwarinessNEAR ANTONYMS:
alertness, attention, attentiveness, awareness; circumspection, observance, vigilance, watchfulness; responsibility, responsibleness2.
the nonperformance of an assigned or expected action
SYNONYMS:
default, delinquency, dereliction, misprision, neglect, negligence, nonfeasance, oversightRELATED WORDS:
carelessness, heedlessness, inadvertence, inadvertency, laxityNEAR ANTONYMS:
compliance, discharge, fulfillment ( fulfilment)