The least serious degree of negligence is "ordinary" negligence. The most serious is "gross" negligence.

Negligence

The idea that the degree of negligence can be measured is known as the reasonable person standard. This standard involves assessing whether someone's actions deviated from what a hypothetical reasonable person would do in similar circumstances.

This is known as contributory negligence or comparative negligence. Contributory negligence applies when the plaintiff's own actions contributed to their injuries, potentially barring them from recovering any damages. Comparative negligence, on the other hand, allows for a partial recovery based on the degree of fault attributed to the plaintiff.

Comparative and Contributory Negligence. Different laws in different states. In a Comparative state, the court compares the degree that a person may be responsible for their own loss. You have a loss of $1,000- but you share half the responsibility for the loss- you get half the amount, or $500. In a Contributory state, if you contributed- in any way or degree- to the loss, you get nothing. You have a loss of $1,000, but you were 10% responsible for the loss. You get nothing.