From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Derelict \Der"e*lict\, noun (Law) (a) A thing voluntary abandoned or willfully cast away by its proper owner, especially a ship abandoned at sea. (b) A tract of land left dry by the sea, and fit for cultivation or use.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Derelict \Der"e*lict\, adjective [L. derelictus, p. p. of derelinquere to forsake wholly, to abandon; de- + relinquere to leave. See {Relinquish}.]
1. Given up or forsaken by the natural owner or guardian; left and abandoned; as, derelict lands.
The affections which these exposed or derelict children bear to their mothers, have no grounds of nature or assiduity but civility and opinion. --Jer. Taylor.
2. Lost; adrift; hence, wanting; careless; neglectful; unfaithful.
They easily prevailed, so as to seize upon the vacant, unoccupied, and derelict minds of his [Chatham's] friends; and instantly they turned the vessel wholly out of the course of his policy. --Burke.
A government which is either unable or unwilling to redress such wrongs is derelict to its highest duties. --J. Buchanan.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adjective
1: deserted or abandoned as by an owner; "a derelict ship"
2: failing in what duty requires; "derelict (or delinquent) in his duty"; "neglectful of his duties"; "remiss of you not to pay your bills" [syn: {delinquent}, {neglectful}, {remiss}]
noun
1: a person unable to support himself
2: a ship abandoned on the high seas [syn: {abandoned ship}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
174 Moby Thesaurus words for "derelict": Bowery bum, DP, Ishmael, abandoned, battered, beachcomber, beat-up, beaten up, beggar, beggarly fellow, behindhand, blighter, broken-down, budmash, bum, bummer, caitiff, careless, cast-off, castaway, castoff, culpably negligent, declasse, decrepit, delinquent, deserted, desolate, devil, dilapidated, dilatory, dingy, disaffected, discard, discarded, disloyal, disowned, displaced person, disregardful, disused, dogie, down-and-out, drifter, drunkard, evictee, exile, expatriate, expellee, faded, faithless, false, fickle, floater, flotsam, flotsam and jetsam, forsaken, foundling, good-for-naught, good-for-nothing, heedless, hobo, human wreck, in ruins, inadvertent, inattentive, inconstant, irresponsible, jetsam, jettisoned, junk, lagan, laissez-faire, lax, lazzarone, left, leper, loafer, loose, lowlife, malingerer, marooned, mauvais sujet, mean wretch, mucker, neglected, neglectful, neglecting, negligent, no-good, noninterfering, nonrestrictive, not true to, of bad faith, off-guard, orphan, outcast, outcast of society, outcaste, outlaw, outside the gates, outside the pale, overly permissive, pariah, pauvre diable, permissive, persona non grata, pilgarlic, poor creature, poor devil, procrastinating, ramshackle, recreant, refuse, regardless, reject, rejected, relaxed, remiss, rubbish, ruined, ruinous, run-down, sad case, sad sack, scamping, seedy, shabby, skid-row bum, skimping, slack, slacker, slighting, slipshod, sloppy, slovenly, slummy, slurring, social outcast, solitary, stiff, street arab, sundowner, swagman, threadbare, tottery, tramp, trash, trothless, truant, tumbledown, unacceptable person, uncircumspect, uncouth, undependable, undesirable, unfaithful, unguarded, unloyal, unreliable, unrigorous, unsteadfast, untouchable, untrue, untrustworthy, unwary, unwatchful, vag, vagabond, vagrant, vaurien, waif, waifs and strays, wastrel, worthless fellow, wretch
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