Meanings
plural derelictions
- countableuncountableWillful neglect of one's duty.
What he did was a terrible dereliction of duty.
3 more examples
The new soldier did not clean his cabin and was scolded for dereliction and disobedience.
[…] there on the table were the uncleared remains of Thursday's lunch, plain evidence of someone's dereliction.
1934, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], The Bravo of LondonAnd his final act—leaving the Watch to accompany Tormund and the Wildlings back into the woods North of the wall—no longer seems like a dereliction of duty. It’s the recovery of duty, found by a man who feels he betrayed his queen, who thinks there’s no longer a place for him in these lands.
2019 May 19, Alex McLevy, “The final Game Of Thrones brings a pensive but simple meditation about stories (newbies)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 22 May 2019 - countableuncountableThe act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned.
To this we must contend with prayer , with actual dereliction and seposition of all our other affairs
1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC2 more examples
There is much sad evidence, too, of the spoliation and dereliction of vanished industry: tips, slag-heaps and derelict colliery-screens among which the ubiquitous, nomad mountain sheep graze unconcernedly.
1955 July, D. S. Barrie, “Railways of the Bridgend District”, in Railway Magazine, page 449After years of unsympathetic commercial use and dereliction, nothing of note remained inside, which accordingly has been reconfigured with modern amenities such as underfloor heating.
2021 December 15, Robin Leleux, “Awards honour the best restoration projects: The Network Rail Community Award: Saltash and Stow”, in RAIL, number 946, page 58
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna tendency to be negligent and uncaring
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latindērelictiō“neglect, abandonment”
- Englishdereliction
From Latin dērelictiō (“neglect, abandonment”), from dērelinquō (“to neglect, abandon”), from dē- + re- + linquō (“to leave”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish laiminlyönti, hylkääminen
- laiminlyöntiwillful neglect of one's duty
- hylkääminenthe act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned
- hylkiöthe act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned
- hylkythe act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned
French prévarication, déréliction
- prévaricationwillful neglect of one's duty
- dérélictionthe act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned
German Pflichtversäumnis, Dienstpflichtverletzung
- Pflichtversäumniswillful neglect of one's duty
- Dienstpflichtverletzungwillful neglect of one's duty
- Dereliktionthe act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned
Hebrew עזובה
- עזובה (azuvá)willful neglect of one's duty
Russian сабота́ж, наруше́ние до́лга
- сабота́ж (sabotáž)willful neglect of one's duty
- наруше́ние до́лга (narušénije dólga)willful neglect of one's duty
- оставле́ние (ostavlénije)the act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned
- забро́шенность (zabróšennostʹ)the act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned
Spanish derelicción, derelección
- derelicciónwillful neglect of one's duty
- derelecciónthe act of abandoning something, or the state of being abandoned
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with dereliction
Anagrams
Cite this entry
dereliction. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dereliction
“dereliction.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dereliction. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dereliction,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dereliction.
Source: dereliction on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.