Adjacent Words

Indifference definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

INDIF'FERENCE, n. [L. indifferentia; in and differo, to differ. Indifferency is little used.]
1. Equipoise or neutrality of mind between different persons or things; a state in which the mind is not inclined to one side more than the other; as when we see a contest of parties with indifference.
2. Impartiality; freedom from prejudice, prepossession or bias; as when we read a book on controverted points with indifference. [This is a different application of the first definition.
3. Unconcernedness; a state of the mind when it feels no anxiety or interest in what is presented to it. No person of humanity can behold the wretchedness of the poor with indifference.
4. State in which there is no difference, or in which no moral or physical reason preponderates; as when we speak of the indifference of things in themselves.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: unbiased impartial unconcern
2: apathy demonstrated by an absence of emotional reactions [syn: emotionlessness, impassivity, impassiveness, phlegm, indifference, stolidity, unemotionality]
3: the trait of lacking enthusiasm for or interest in things generally [syn: apathy, indifference, numbness, spiritlessness]
4: the trait of remaining calm and seeming not to care; a casual lack of concern [syn: nonchalance, unconcern, indifference]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 15th century 1. the quality, state, or fact of being indifferent 2. a. archaic lack of difference or distinction between two or more things b. absence of compulsion to or toward one thing or another

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 lack of interest or attention. 2 unimportance (a matter of indifference). 3 neutrality. Etymology: L indifferentia (as INDIFFERENT)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Indifference In*dif"fer*ence, n. [L. indifferentia similarity, want of difference: cf. F. indiff['e]rence.] 1. The quality or state of being indifferent, or not making a difference; want of sufficient importance to constitute a difference; absence of weight; insignificance. 2. Passableness; mediocrity. 3. Impartiality; freedom from prejudice, prepossession, or bias. He . . . is far from such indifference and equity as ought and must be in judges which he saith I assign. --Sir T. More. 4. Absence of anxiety or interest in respect to what is presented to the mind; unconcernedness; as, entire indifference to all that occurs. Indifference can not but be criminal, when it is conversant about objects which are so far from being of an indifferent nature, that they are highest importance. --Addison. Syn: Carelessness; negligence; unconcern; apathy; insensibility; coldness; lukewarmness.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you accuse someone of indifference to something, you mean that they have a complete lack of interest in it. ...his callous indifference to the plight of his son. N-UNCOUNT: oft N to n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Neutrality, impartiality, disinterestedness, freedom from bias or prejudice. 2. Unconcernedness, unconcern, apathy, coolness, coldness, carelessness, negligence, heedlessness, inattention, want of interest. 3. Triviality, unimportance, insignificance. 4. Inferiority, mediocre character, indifferent quality.

Moby Thesaurus

Laodiceanism, abandon, abeyance, absentmindedness, abstraction, abulia, acedia, alienation, aloofness, anxiety, anxiety equivalent, anxiety state, apathy, ataraxia, ataraxy, benumbedness, blah, blahs, boredom, callousness, careless abandon, carelessness, casualness, catalepsy, catatonia, catatonic stupor, coldness, comatoseness, compulsion, coolness, cursoriness, deadliness, deathliness, dejection, depression, detachment, disinterest, disinterestedness, dispassion, dispassionateness, disregard, disregardfulness, distraction, dormancy, drowsiness, dullness, easiness, easygoingness, elation, emotionalism, enervation, ennui, entropy, equitability, equitableness, euphoria, evenhandedness, fairishness, fairness, fatigue, flightiness, flippancy, folie du doute, forgetfulness, frivolousness, giddiness, hastiness, heartlessness, heaviness, hebetude, heedlessness, hopelessness, hypochondria, hysteria, hysterics, immateriality, impartiality, impassiveness, impassivity, impotence, imprecision, inadvertence, inadvertency, inanimation, inappetence, inattention, inattentiveness, inconsequence, inconsequentiality, inconsiderableness, inconsiderateness, inconsideration, incuriosity, incuriousness, indevotion, indevoutness, indifferentism, indifferentness, indolence, ineffectuality, inertia, inertness, inferiority, inobservance, insensibility, insignificance, insouciance, intellectual inertia, irrelevance, jadedness, lack of appetite, lack of foresight, lack of interest, lackadaisicalness, lackluster, languidness, languishment, languor, languorousness, lassitude, latency, laxity, laxness, laziness, leniency, lenitude, lentor, lethargicalness, lethargy, levity, lifelessness, lightmindedness, listlessness, littleness, looseness, loosening, lotus-eating, low priority, lukewarm piety, mania, marginality, mediocreness, mediocrity, melancholia, mental distress, middlingness, moderateness, modestness, modesty, negligence, negligibility, neutrality, nonchalance, nonobservance, nonreligiousness, numbness, objectivity, oblivion, obliviousness, obsession, offhandedness, oscitancy, overindulgence, overpermissiveness, passableness, passiveness, passivity, pathological indecisiveness, perfunctoriness, permissiveness, pettiness, phlegm, phlegmaticalness, phlegmaticness, picayune, picayunishness, plucklessness, pococurantism, pokiness, preoccupation, psychalgia, psychomotor disturbance, puniness, recklessness, regardlessness, relaxation, relaxedness, remissness, resignation, resignedness, respectability, satedness, secondariness, shallowness, slackness, sleepiness, slightness, sloppiness, sloth, slothfulness, slowness, sluggishness, smallness, softness, somnolence, sopor, soporifousness, spiritlessness, sprezzatura, spunklessness, stagnancy, stagnation, stasis, stolidity, stupefaction, stupor, superficiality, supineness, suspense, tactlessness, tediousness, thoughtlessness, tic, tolerableness, torpidity, torpidness, torpitude, torpor, triviality, twitching, unalertness, unawareness, unbiasedness, unconcern, unconsciousness, undevoutness, undutifulness, unheedfulness, unimportance, unimpressiveness, uninquisitiveness, unintentiveness, uninterestedness, unmindfulness, unnoteworthiness, unobservance, unopinionatedness, unprejudicedness, unpreparedness, unreadiness, unreligiousness, unresponsiveness, unrestraint, unsolicitousness, unsolicitude, unthinkingness, unwariness, unwatchfulness, vegetation, vis inertiae, weakness, weariness, withdrawal, withdrawnness, world-weariness