Remisse

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Failing to act with the care or diligence that one's duty requires, and therefore neglectful
2. Showing carelessness or lack of attention in carrying out an obligation or responsibility
3. Characterized by slackness or negligence in fulfilling what one is supposed to do

Etymology: Latin "remittere" meant "to send back," but it also meant "to slacken" or "to let go," and its past participle "remissus" described something loosened or relaxed. That sense of slackness runs through the English word. "Remisse" is an older spelling of "remiss," and it came to describe a person whose hold on their duties has loosened: careless, slack, or negligent about an obligation. The same Latin verb produced "remit," which kept the sense of sending back or easing a debt, penalty, or hold, and "remission," the release from a sentence or the easing of an illness. All three words share the image of tension being let out.