dereliction
dereliction Lexical Profile
dereliction Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The shameful failure to fulfill one's obligations, or the deliberate neglect of duty.
"The inspector was dismissed for gross dereliction of duty after ignoring critical safety violations."
The state of having been abandoned and become dilapidated, or the act of abandoning property.
"Decades of economic decline left the old industrial docks in a state of complete dereliction."
The gradual recession of water from the shore or riverbed, permanently exposing dry land (in property law and geology).
"Under property law, the landowner gained title to the newly exposed riverbank formed by gradual dereliction."
• Rhymes for dereliction
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Latin derelictio ('an abandoning'), derived from the verb derelinquere ('to forsake or abandon wholly'), formed from de- ('completely') and relinquere ('to leave behind').