Der″e‐lict (?), a. [L. derelictus, p. p. of derelinquere to forsake wholly, to abandon; de- + relinquere to leave. See Relinquish.] 1. Given up or forsaken by the natural owner or guardian; left and abandoned; as, derelict lands.
The affections which these exposed or derelict children bear to their mothers, have no grounds of nature or assiduity but civility and opinion. Jer. Taylor.
2. Lost; adrift; hence, wanting; careless; neglectful; unfaithful.
They easily prevailed, so as to seize upon the vacant, unoccupied, and derelict minds of his friends; and instantly they turned the vessel wholly out of the course of his policy. Burke.
A government which is either unable or unwilling to redress such wrongs is derelict to its highest duties. J. Buchanan.