Novel lays attract our ravished ears; But old, the mind
inattention hears. --Pope.
Syn: Inadvertence; heedlessness; negligence; carelessness;
disregard; remissness; thoughtlessness; neglect.
Usage: {Inattention}, {Inadvertence}. We miss seeing a thing
through inadvertence when do not happen to look at it;
through inattention when we give no heed to it, though
directly before us. The latter is therefore the worse.
Inadvertence may be an involuntary accident;
inattention is culpable neglect. A versatile mind is
often inadvertent; a careless or stupid one is
inattentive.