indifference

[in-dif-er-uhns, -dif-ruhns]

noun

1. lack of interest or concern.

   We were shocked by their indifference toward poverty.

   Antonyms: responsiveness, eagerness

2. unimportance; little or no concern.

   Whether or not to attend the party is a matter of indifference to him.

3. the quality or condition of being indifferent.

4. mediocre quality; mediocrity.

5. Baseball.,  the absence of effort by the defense to prevent a stolen base.

   For the second time this inning, a Brewer has taken second base on indifference.

indifference

/ ɪnˈdɪfrəns, -fərəns /

noun

1. the fact or state of being indifferent; lack of care or concern

2. lack of quality; mediocrity

3. lack of importance; insignificance

4. See principle of indifference

Other Word Forms

• superindifference noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of indifference¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, variant of indifferency, from Latin indifferentia; indifferent, -ence, -ency

Synonym Study

Indifference, unconcern, listlessness, apathy, insensibility all imply lack of feeling. Indifference denotes an absence of feeling or interest; unconcern, an absence of concern or solicitude, a calm or cool indifference in the face of what might be expected to cause uneasiness or apprehension; listlessness, an absence of inclination or interest, a languid indifference to what is going on about one; apathy, a profound intellectual and emotional indifference suggestive of faculties either naturally sluggish or dulled by emotional disturbance, mental illness, or prolonged sickness; insensibility, an absence of capacity for feeling or of susceptibility to emotional influences.

Example Sentences

Through approval or indifference, these actions may be acceptable according to majority rule, but that does not make them legitimate.

From Salon

Department of Justice has described as the school’s ‘deliberate indifference’ to Jewish students’ civil rights.

From Los Angeles Times

That diplomatic recognition, as well as America's studied indifference to the prospect of a long - and possibly indefinite - Israeli military occupation, take the US and its allies in markedly different directions.

From BBC

Nowhere is the heartlessness of the Netanyahu government and the Israeli state, and the shameless indifference of most of the world, more evident than in the deliberate starvation of an entire people.

From Salon

What I see in the Israeli public is an extraordinary indifference by large parts of the public to what Israel is doing and what it’s done in the name of Israeli citizens in Gaza.

From Salon

Related Words

• alienation 
• apathy 
• callousness 
• carelessness 
• disdain 
• disinterest 
• disregard 
• inattention 
• inertia 
• insensitivity www.thesaurus.com
• lack 
• negligence 
• nonchalance