Standard Lemma guide

dereliction

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /dɛɹ.ɪˈlɪk.ʃən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪkʃən
  • CMU ARPABET: D EH2 R AH0 L IH1 K SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Willful neglect of one's duty.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • The new soldier did not clean his cabin and was scolded for dereliction and disobedience.
  • What he did was a terrible dereliction of duty.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Land gained from the water by a change of water-line.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

willful negligence

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: wrongdoing, wrongful conduct, misconduct, actus reus, negligence, carelessness, neglect, nonperformance

Narrower terms: nonfeasance

5

noun

Meaning 5

a tendency to be negligent and uncaring

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he inherited his delinquency from his father
  • his derelictions were not really intended as crimes
  • his adolescent protest consisted of willful neglect of all his responsibilities

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: delinquency, willful neglect

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: negligence, neglect, neglectfulness

History

Etymology

From Latin dērelictiō (“neglect, abandonment”), from dērelinquō (“to neglect, abandon”), from dē- + re- + linquō (“to leave”).

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: laiminlyönti — willful neglect of one's duty
  • French: prévarication — willful neglect of one's duty
  • German: Pflichtversäumnis — willful neglect of one's duty
  • German: Dienstpflichtverletzung — willful neglect of one's duty
  • Hebrew: עזובה (azuvá) — willful neglect of one's duty
  • Russian: сабота́ж (sabotáž) — willful neglect of one's duty
  • Russian: наруше́ние до́лга (narušénije dólga) — willful neglect of one's duty
  • Spanish: derelicción — willful neglect of one's duty
  • Finnish: hylkääminen — the act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned
  • Finnish: hylkiö — the act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned
  • Finnish: hylky — the act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned
  • French: déréliction — the act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned
  • German: Dereliktion — the act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned
  • Russian: оставле́ние (ostavlénije) — the act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned
  • Russian: забро́шенность (zabróšennostʹ) — the act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned
  • Spanish: derelección — the act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned