Adjektiv

fahrlässig

Translation

negligent, careless, reckless

Er handelte fahrlässig.

He acted negligently.

Das war ein fahrlässiger Fehler.

That was a careless mistake.

[adjective] (predicative) to be negligent His behaviour was negligent.

[adjective] + [noun] (attributive) a negligent... A negligent mistake led to the accident.

Synonyms: unvorsichtig (incautious), leichtsinnig (reckless); Antonyms: sorgfältig (careful), vorsichtig (cautious)

From 'fahren' (to drive) and 'lassen' (to let, leave). The idea is of 'letting things go' while driving, i.e., not paying attention.

Think of 'driving' (fahren) and 'letting go' (lassen). Letting go of your responsibilities while driving is negligent.