The district had a lax custom of leaving parcels behind flowerpots. (lax: slack, careless, negligent) A single case of negligence could damage a fragile object beyond repair. (negligence: carelessness, neglect, neglectfulness) The courier disliked being called negligent, but the photograph showed a broken vase. (negligent: careless, remiss, inattentive) Her first concern was to avoid recrimination; the owner's was to find the missing parcel. (recrimination: counteraccusation, countercharge, reciprocal accusation)
They traced the address to the house next door. The label had fallen off in the rain. There was an unsettling likeness between the broken vase in the photograph and the intact one that turned up under a bench. (unsettling: disconcerting, disturbing, unnerving) The owner recognized both. She had sent the maker a photograph of an earlier, irreparable break so he could match the glaze. (irreparable: irremediable, irretrievable, irreversible)
The courier could not evade responsibility for losing the label. (evade: avoid, dodge, elude) She did recover the vase. Her report included both facts. Her supervisor kept a copy to show how much an evasive report would have left out. (evasive: equivocal, noncommittal, indirect)