regex - javascript regular expression to not match a word

Question

How do I use a javascript regular expression to check a string that does not match certain words?

For example, I want a function that, when passed a string that contains either abc or def, returns false.

'abcd' -> false

'cdef' -> false

'bcd' -> true

EDIT

Preferably, I want a regular expression as simple as something like, [^abc], but it does not deliver the result expected as I need consecutive letters.

eg. I want myregex

if ( myregex.test('bcd') ) alert('the string does not contain abc or def');

The statement myregex.test('bcd') is evaluated to true.

Answer 1

This is what you are looking for:

^((?!(abc|def)).)*$

The ?! part is called a negative lookahead assertion. It means "not followed by".

The explanation is here: Regular expression to match a line that doesn't contain a word