Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Lax in attending to duty; negligent. synonym: negligent.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not energetic or diligent in performance; careless in performing duty or business; not complying with engagements at all, or not in due time; negligent; dilatory; slack.
  • Wanting earnestness or activity; slow; relaxed; languid.
  • Synonyms Neglectful, etc. (see negligent), careless, thoughtless, inattentive, slothful, backward, behindhand.
  • noun An act of negligence.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete The act of being remiss; inefficiency; failure.
  • adjective Not energetic or exact in duty or business; not careful or prompt in fulfilling engagements; negligent; careless; tardy; behindhand; lagging; slack; hence, lacking earnestness or activity; languid; slow.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective At fault; failing to fulfill responsibility, duty, or obligations.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective failing in what duty requires

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Latin remissus, past participle of remittere, to remit, slacken; see remit.]

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Examples

Comments

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  • Song quotation on stall.

    November 26, 2008

  • v. Negligent in attending to a task; lax in the performance of duty

    I fired Fritz because he was remiss in his duties; he never cleaned the bathrooms and he always forgot to lock the door when he left.

    May 21, 2009

  • In addition, remiss means 1. (of a condition, disease, etc.): not intense or strong; moderate, mild; 2. (of degree): moderate, low, slight; lesser (OED).

    April 27, 2012