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indifference Definition

in·dif·fer·ence (in dif′ər əns, -dif′rəns)

noun

the quality, state, or fact of being indifferent; specif.,

  1. lack of concern, interest, or feeling; apathy
  2. lack of importance, meaning, or worth

Etymology: Fr < L indifferentia

indifference Synonyms

indifference

n.

  1. Apathy

    unconcern, nonchalance, aloofness, impassiveness, impassivity, impassibility, coldness, coolness, insensitivity, insensibility, callousness, alienation, disregard, disinterest, insouciance, noninterference, inertia, neutrality, isolationism, insusceptibility, immunity, phlegm, heedlessness, detachment, dullness, sluggishness, listlessness, torpor, stupor, cold-bloodedness, disdain, stoicism, cool*.

  2. Insignificance

    unimportance, irrelevance, triviality; see insignificance.

indifference Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • feign: Feigning indifference, she plays the coquette's cheapest trick.
  • show: But the great majority of the people present showed entire indifference to the youth and his sorrows.
  • feel: As a result I felt a profound indifference to what followed.
  • display: Being unable to empathize with injured or upset children, and displaying indifference to the needs of others.
  • mean: He does not mean indifference for he was deeply compassionate, he cared greatly.

Adjective modifier

  • callous: Yes, but it is not the silence of callous indifference or helpless weakness.
  • seeming: That sums up the conventional view and explains the seeming indifference of many central banks to this issue.
  • utter: What happens to the Russians, what happens to the Czechs, is a matter of utter indifference to me.
  • careless: I cannot suffocate their plea for air with my careless indifference.
  • supreme: To the general public, outside the Church, in Britain there is supreme indifference to what world wide Anglicanism does with itself.
  • apparent: Do we continue to turn out for cup matches every season despite the manager's apparent indifference to them?

Modifies a noun

  • curve: Summary The shape of indifference curves depends upon the preferences of the individual.
  • map: Representing Preferences with Utility Functions It is clear that preferences are described by the indifference map.

Noun used with modifier

  • government: However, following the war, the unit seemed to be losing its impetus through government indifference.
  • belle: Often accompanied by what Charcot called ' la belle indifference ' - Patients did not seem to be concerned about their condition.

Possessives

  • government: This report illustrates why so many business leaders are increasingly alarmed by the worsening situation and why the Government's indifference is so frustrating.

Preposition: of

  • nature: The indifference of nature is stressed in the death of Bazarov.
  • world: Stewart was appalled by the level of cruelty he witnessed, but was equally disturbed by the indifference of the outside world.
indifference Quotes

But there is yet another form of this hidden heresy, and, paradoxically, it can affect those who are proudest of their long-standing and unimpeachable orthodoxy; heresy in the form of indifference.

—Rahner, Karl

   In the established sense it issocially nil.Happy-go-lucky, don't-you-bother, we're-in-Australia. But there also seems to be no inside life of any sort: just a long lapse and drift. A rather fascinating indifference, a physical indifference to what we call soul or spirit. It's really a weird show.

—Lawrence, D(avid) H(erbert)

Throughout history it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph.

—Haile Selassie originally Prince RasTafari Makonnen

   The indifferenceöthe fern-dark indifference of this remote golden Australia. Not to careöfrom the bottom of one's soul not to care.

—Lawrence, D(avid) H(erbert)

To pass over youth in dull indifference, to refuse the sweets of life because they once must leave us, is as preposterous as to wish to have been born old, because we one day may be old.For my part, my youth may wear and waste, but it shall never rust in my possession.

—Congreve,William

   People in Parliament occupy themselves with private animosities and petty quarrels, and think little of the national interest. It is impossible to credit the serene indifference with which they consider events outside their own country.

—William III also called  William of Orange

   Think of the heroism of Johnson, think of that superb indifference to mortal limitation that set him upon his dictionary, and carried him through triumphantly until the end! Who, if he were wisely considerate of things at large, would ever embark upon any work much more considerable than a halfpenny post-card? Who would project a serial novel, afterThackeray and Dickens had each fallen in mid-course? Who would find heart enough to begin to live, if he dallied with the consideration of death?

—Stevenson, Robert Louis

This isthe land God gave to Andy Stewartöwe have our inheritance. There shall be no ardour, there shall be indifference. There shall not be excellence, there shall be the average. We shall be the intrepid hunters of golf balls.

—A'Ghobhainn

Browse dictionary entries near indifference

  1. ‹ Indies
  2. ‹ indie
  3. ‹ indictment
  4. ‹ indiction
  5. ‹ indictable offense
  6. ‹ indictable
  7. ‹ indict
  8. ‹ indicia
  9. ‹ indices
  10. ‹ indicator
  1. indifferent ›
  2. indifferentism ›
  3. indifferently ›
  4. indigence ›
  5. indigency ›
  6. indigene ›
  7. indigenous ›
  8. indigent ›
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