Disregard

How to spell disregard

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce disregard

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does disregard mean?

1. verbTo pay no attention to something; to treat it as unimportant or ignore it.
2. nounThe act of paying no attention to something, or a lack of proper care or respect for it.

Disregard in a sentence

• verb

  Please disregard the earlier invoice, as it was sent in error.

• noun

  His complete disregard for safety rules alarmed the supervisor.

• verb

  Drivers who disregard speed limits risk heavy fines.

• noun

  The report showed a careless disregard for the company budget.

Where does disregard come from?

Language of origin: French

This word joins the negating prefix dis-, meaning 'not' or 'the opposite of', to regard, a verb English borrowed in the 1400s from the Old French regarder, meaning 'to look at' or 'to take notice of'. That French verb was itself built from re- (an intensifying prefix here) and garder, meaning 'to guard, watch, or keep an eye on', which traces back through Frankish to the same Germanic root that gives us the everyday word 'ward'. So to regard something was literally to fix your gaze and attention on it, and to disregard it is to refuse it that attention. The verb disregard appears in English from the early 1600s, with the related noun following close behind. Because the word is simply the familiar 'regard' with a prefix bolted on, the spelling holds no hidden traps: keep the single s of dis- and the plain regard, and you are done.

How the word is built

• dis- (not, opposite of)
• regard (to look at, pay heed to)