1
as in abandonment
the act of abandoning
the dereliction by the owners of a once flourishing orchard
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in negligence
failure to take the care that a cautious person usually takes
the ski area was not held responsible for the injury on account of the skier's own manifest dereliction
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in neglect
the nonperformance of an assigned or expected action
both sentries were to be court-martialed for dereliction of duty
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4
as in weakness
a defect in character
believes that society is guilty of a moral dereliction if it does not care for those unable to care for themselves
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of dereliction
In May, days before the second anniversary of the massacre, the victims' families filed a lawsuit against the DPS and 92 troopers who responded to the mass shooting, calling the response a dereliction of duty for not employing proper active shooter response training techniques.
—
Hogan Gore, Austin American-Statesman, 15 July 2024
In August 2023, DeSantis issued an executive order for her removal, accusing her of negligence and dereliction of duty.
—Orlando Sentinel Staff, Orlando Sentinel, 5 Nov. 2024
To overlook the glaring inadequacy of this nominee would be dereliction of duty.
—Arthur House, Hartford Courant, 22 Nov. 2024
However, this is such a dereliction of duty she should be fined by the producers.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for dereliction 
Hogan Gore, Austin American-Statesman, 15 July 2024
In August 2023, DeSantis issued an executive order for her removal, accusing her of negligence and dereliction of duty.
—Orlando Sentinel Staff, Orlando Sentinel, 5 Nov. 2024
To overlook the glaring inadequacy of this nominee would be dereliction of duty.
—Arthur House, Hartford Courant, 22 Nov. 2024
However, this is such a dereliction of duty she should be fined by the producers.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for dereliction
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dereliction
Noun
-
Volunteers advocate for children who have been removed from their home from either abuse, abandonment or neglect.—
Joe Rassel,
Orlando Sentinel,
15 Jan. 2025
-
Anxious Attachment: Children with anxious attachment often suffer from fear of abandonment.—
Christin Perry,
Parents,
6 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Mothers fear that a lack of diapers could be taken as a sign of negligence and lead to children being removed from their custody.—
Laura Clawson,
JSTOR Daily,
18 Jan. 2025
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Staff and security at the Kaseya Center—a co-defendant accused of gross negligence—allegedly prevented the acquaintance from following the woman and McGregor into the bathroom (the Kaseya Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment).—
Ty Roush,
Forbes,
15 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The average student Oakmont teaches has had multiple adverse childhood experiences, serious traumas ranging from abuse and neglect to seeing their parents incarcerated or die to family drug addiction or other forms of instability.—
Michael McShane,
Forbes,
15 Jan. 2025
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That dynamic, the news organization found, has resulted in fraud, abuse and neglect of the state’s most vulnerable.—
Jake Pearson,
ProPublica,
15 Jan. 2025
Noun
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But Price acknowledged that the case revealed multiple weaknesses in how police handled homicide investigations at the time, leading to widespread reforms that remain in place today.—
Michael Gordon,
Charlotte Observer,
17 Jan. 2025
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This will involve complete assessments of endpoints, employee training, or network access controls that represent the weaknesses.—
William Jones,
USA TODAY,
16 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The State Bureau of Investigation opened a criminal case in December regarding the management of the brigade, which has experienced high levels of desertion and issues related to staffing and management.—
Marc Santora,
New York Times,
6 Jan. 2025
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The army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire unraveled during World War I as repressed Magyar and Slavic soldiers chose desertion over duty, fleeing the battlefield.—
Jason Lyall,
Foreign Affairs,
22 July 2022
Noun
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Even after a 10-7 regular season and return to the playoffs — albeit a brief one after Sunday’s wild-card loss to Buffalo — established a new benchmark for success, the sins of the past lingered in the coach’s mind.—
Parker Gabriel,
The Denver Post,
15 Jan. 2025
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But the sin of this particular series is one that's hard to get over: deep unpleasantness.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA TODAY,
8 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The fault in falling for such a scam will likely fall to you.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes,
18 Jan. 2025
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To hear President-elect Donald Trump tell it, this was all the fault of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and outgoing President Biden.—
Thomas Elias,
The Mercury News,
17 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Hence, the population loss was bandied about Red America as irrefutable evidence of the blue state’s social collapse, its moral rot and the failings of its left-leaning political leadership.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
The Mercury News,
21 Jan. 2025
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Franklin is a legend in his own mind that refuses to address and remedy his faults and failings.—
Stewart Mandel,
The Athletic,
21 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near dereliction
Cite this Entry
“Dereliction.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dereliction. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
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