Negligence is the failure to use the level of care that a reasonable person would use under the same or similar circumstances. It can arise from careless action or, when there is a duty to act, from careless inaction.

Negligence is a core concept in tort law because it helps determine when a person may be legally responsible for causing accidental harm to someone else or to property.

Negligence Explained

Cornell Wex explains that negligence is the failure to behave with the level of care that a reasonable person would have exercised under the same circumstances and identifies common elements such as duty, breach, harm, and causation. Federal court glossary materials likewise describe torts as civil wrongs that may involve negligent injury, reinforcing negligence as a central basis for civil liability rather than criminal punishment.

The Term Negligence in Different Legal Contexts

Negligence appears in personal injury claims, property-damage cases, professional-liability disputes, and many other civil matters where one party alleges that another failed to act with reasonable care. The precise standard can vary depending on the setting and the relationship between the parties.

Although negligence usually belongs to civil law, the same underlying idea of careless conduct can also matter in statutory or regulatory contexts where duties are defined more specifically.

Common Misconceptions About the Meaning of Negligence

A common misconception is that negligence means any unfortunate accident. Legally, negligence usually requires proof of a duty, a breach of that duty, and a causal connection to actual harm.

Another misconception is that negligence means intentional wrongdoing. Negligence is generally about a failure to use reasonable care, not about deliberate harm.