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What is "inadvertence"

Crossword clues for inadvertence

inadvertence
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Inadvertence

Inadvertence \In`ad*vert"ence\; pl. -ces, Inadvertency \In`ad*vert"en*cy\; pl. -cies, n. [Cf. F. inadvertance.]

  1. The quality of being inadvertent; lack of heedfulness or attentiveness; inattention; negligence; as, many mistakes proceed from inadvertence.

    Inadvertency, or lack of attendance to the sense and intention of our prayers.
    --Jer. Taylor.

  2. An effect of inattention; a result of carelessness; an oversight, mistake, or fault from negligence.

    The productions of a great genius, with many lapses an inadvertencies, are infinitely preferable to works of an inferior kind of author which are scrupulously exact.
    --Addison.

    Syn: Inattention; heedlessness; carelessness; negligence; thoughtlessness. See Inattention.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
inadvertence

mid-15c., from Middle French inadvertance (14c.), from Scholastic Latin inadvertentia, from in- "not" (see in- (1)) + advertentia, from Latin advertere "to direct one's attention to," literally "to turn toward" (see advertise).

Wiktionary
inadvertence

n. 1 The state or quality of being inadvertent; inadvertency; heedlessness; carelessness; negligence. 2 An effect or result of inattention; an oversight or mistake from negligence.

WordNet
inadvertence

  1. n. an unintentional omission resulting from failure to notice something [syn: oversight]

  2. the trait of forgetting or ignoring your responsibilities [syn: unmindfulness, heedlessness, inadvertency] [ant: mindfulness, mindfulness]

Usage examples of "inadvertence".

With artful inadvertence the gauze seemed to withdraw from their panting bosoms, and new and still newer charms discovered themselves to enchant the eyes and inflame the heart.

We are not boy and girl, to be captiously irritable, misled by every moment's inadvertence, and wantonly playing with our own happiness.

They are believed capable of harming man, either by advertence or inadvertence.

Those who joined our righteous cause were free from harm's way (except by inadvertence, at worst a crime of involuntary manslaughter).

I said, unhanding her, as though my grip upon her might have been an inadvertence.