disregard 1 of 2

disregard

2 of 2

verb

Synonym Chooser

How is the word disregard distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of disregard are forget, ignore, neglect, overlook, and slight. While all these words mean "to pass over without giving due attention," disregard suggests voluntary inattention.

disregarded the wishes of his family

In what contexts can forget take the place of disregard?

The words forget and disregard are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, forget may suggest either a willful ignoring or a failure to impress something on one's mind.

forget what others say

When would ignore be a good substitute for disregard?

While the synonyms ignore and disregard are close in meaning, ignore implies a failure to regard something obvious.

ignored the snide remark

When is neglect a more appropriate choice than disregard?

The words neglect and disregard can be used in similar contexts, but neglect implies giving insufficient attention to something that merits one's attention.

habitually neglected his studies

Where would overlook be a reasonable alternative to disregard?

The synonyms overlook and disregard are sometimes interchangeable, but overlook suggests disregarding or ignoring through haste or lack of care.

in my rush I overlooked a key example

When might slight be a better fit than disregard?

In some situations, the words slight and disregard are roughly equivalent. However, slight implies contemptuous or disdainful disregarding or omitting.

slighted several major authors in her survey

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of disregard
Noun
Businessmen and revolutionaries alike tended to disregard borders. Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025 The kids get an assist from Sally Hardesty herself (Olwen Fouéré), whom the film treats with such flippant disregard that the matter should be tried in court. Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Sep. 2025
Verb
In their complaint, the unions allege the budget office's memo unlawfully directs agencies to disregard their own authorizing statutes. Franco Ordoñez, NPR, 2 Oct. 2025 If a customer has no option to disregard or modify the charge, it cannot be deducted from the employee’s income. Bay Area News Group, Mercury News, 29 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for disregard
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disregard
Noun
  • With all, the charm lies in that tension between formality and casualness.
    Alex Sales, Glamour, 12 Oct. 2025
  • And people have been sure to point it out, calling the video ‘insensitive’, taking into account the proximity and her casualness.
    Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 8 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Before Cleopatra, Liz and Dick despised each other.
    Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 4 Oct. 2025
  • Really loved, obsessively loved and despised by every critic.
    Jen Juneau, PEOPLE, 30 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Prizegivers have also in the past been accused of being snobbish, of having an anti-American bias and of ignoring some of the giants of literature, including Russia's Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, France's Emile Zola and Ireland's James Joyce.
    Simon Johnson, USA Today, 9 Oct. 2025
  • Hoping the broadcasts ignore that will always be a fruitless endeavor.
    Patrick Iversen, New York Times, 9 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Ole Miss’s narrow escape cost it a position in the US LBM Coaches Poll, but all will be forgiven if the Rebels survive their next two assignments on the road.
    Erick Smith, USA Today, 13 Oct. 2025
  • The whole point of the conversation is forgiven by who?
    Leia Mendoza, Variety, 13 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Because the results came with an all-too-familiar indifference from her doctor.
    Megan Feringa, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
  • Corigliano wrote his symphony in the late nineteen-eighties, to lament friends who had died of AIDS and to decry indifference to those deaths.
    Alex Ross, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Mary, Viola's second-eldest, devoted her life to ensuring that her mother and her cause would not be forgotten.
    Emma George-Griffin, Freep.com, 9 Oct. 2025
  • The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.
    Kaycee Sloan, Cincinnati Enquirer, 9 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • On May 4, the legendary midnight blue carriages will travel south from Paris toward Pompeii and onward to the clifftop sanctuary of Caruso, a hotel also owned by Belmond, which overlooks the Amalfi Coast.
    Sofia Celeste, Footwear News, 13 Oct. 2025
  • This charming flat sits within the 17th-century wing of a historic home built on the site of Saint Comgall’s Monastery, overlooking the River Bann.
    Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 12 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Federico Marchetti, the Italian fashion entrepreneur, is a master of sprezzatura—the courtier’s art of cloaking ambition and cunning in an air of guileless nonchalance.
    John Seabrook, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
  • That kind of perfect nonchalance for the street and the occasion.
    Guy Martin, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Disregard.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disregard. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.

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