Word family noun attention attendant attentiveness ≠ inattentiveness adjective attentive ≠ inattentive verb attend adverb attentively ≠ inattentively
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishinattentivein‧at‧ten‧tive /ˌɪnəˈtentɪv◂/ adjective ATTENTIONnot giving enough attention to someone or something OPP attentive accidents caused by inattentive or reckless drivers —inattentively adverb —inattentiveness noun [uncountable]Examples from the Corpus
inattentive• The storyline has twists and turns to challenge the inattentive.• Roger was hyperactive and inattentive as a child.• The sometimes inattentive audience only betrayed the fact that they were as much participants in the total popular-cultural spectacle as the performers.• Our seemingly more inattentive child may get turned on by something other than conversations with her parents.• That is how inattentive children feel.• Another hazard in dealing with inattentive children is treating them in a mechanical and inflexible manner.• It is understandable: the child considers himself safe in the residential street and is inattentive on the way to school.• In spite of the inattentive servers and the bad decor, it's worth eating at Leon's for the great cheap food.• inattentive students• The government is still being accused of being inattentive to the plight of the Health Service.• Like Bush, Reagan was inattentive, unlearned and apparently simplistic. 