laches

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: lach=es

CIDE DICTIONARY

laches, n. [OF. lachesse, fr. lache lax, indolent, F. lâche, ultimately fr. L. laxus loose, lax. See Lax.].

 Neglect; negligence; remissness; neglect to do a thing at the proper time; especially, a delay in asserting a claim, sufficient to cause a person to lose the right to adjuducation of the claim by a court.  [1913 Webster]
"It ill became him to take advantage of such a laches with the eagerness of a shrewd attorney."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

laches, n. Law delay in performing a legal duty, asserting a right, claiming a privilege, etc.

Etymology

ME f. AF laches(se), OF laschesse f. lasche ult. f. L laxus loose

ROGET THESAURUS

laches

Nonobservance

N nonobservance, evasion, inobservance, failure, omission, neglect, laches, laxity, informality, infringement, infraction, violation, transgression, piracy, retraction, retractation, repudiation, nullification, protest, forfeiture, lawlessness, disobedience, bad faith, violating, lawless, transgressive, elusive, evasive, unfulfilled &c (fulfill).

Neglect

N neglect, carelessness, trifling, negligence, omission, oversight, laches, default, supineness, inattention, nonchalance, imprudence, recklessness, slovenliness improvidence, noncompletion, inexactness, paralipsis, paralepsis, paraleipsis (in rhetoric), trifler, waiter on Providence, Micawber, neglecting, unmindful, negligent, neglectful, heedless, careless, thoughtless, perfunctory, remiss, feebleness, inconsiderate, uncircumspect, incircumspect, off one's guard, unwary, unwatchful, unguarded, offhand, supine, inattentive, insouciant, imprudent, reckless, slovenly inexact, improvident, neglected, unheeded, uncared-for, unperceived, unseen, unobserved, unnoticed, unnoted, unmarked, unattended to, unthought of, unregarded, unremarked, unmissed, shunted, shelved, unexamined, unstudied, unsearched, unscanned, unweighed, unsifted, unexplored, abandoned, buried in a napkin, hid under a bushel, negligently, hand over head, anyhow, in an unguarded moment, per incuriam, Int, never mind, no matter, let it pass, out of sight, out of mind.