indifference

See also: indifférence

English

Etymology

From Middle French indifférence, from Late Latin indifferentia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈdɪf.ɹəns/, /ɪnˈdɪf.ə.ɹəns/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: in‧dif‧fer‧ence

Noun

indifference (countable and uncountable, plural indifferences)

1. The state of being indifferent.

   Synonym: unconcern

   • 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter IX, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 115:

     "I do not care for them; I would not have them now," cried Lady Penrhyn; "it is only your affection I care for. Do not suppose, for a moment, that I wish for the tables when you do not: oh, no! my only concern was for your indifference. But I am content if you tell me I was mistaken."

2. Unbiased impartiality.
3. Unemotional apathy.

   His daughter's indifference towards the sexist group made him wonder if she was even human.

4. A lack of enthusiasm.
5. Unconcerned nonchalance.
   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me. I look upon notoriety with the same indifference as on the buttons on a man's shirt-front, or the crest on his note-paper.

6. (philosophy) Self-identity defined through the negation of difference, non-difference.
   • 1801, FWJ Schelling, The Philosophical Rupture between Fichte and Schelling, page 145:

     "I call reason absolute reason, or reason insofar as it is conceived as the total indifference of the subjective and objective."

Derived terms

• defensive indifference
• depraved-indifference murder
• indifference curve
• la belle indifference
• liberty of indifference
• principle of indifference

 

Related terms

• same difference

 

Translations

the state of being indifferent

• Arabic: لَامُبَالَاة f (lāmubālāh)
• Armenian: անտարբերություն (hy) (antarberutʻyun)
• Belarusian: абыя́касць f (abyjákascʹ), абыя́кавасць f (abyjákavascʹ), раўнаду́шнасць f (raŭnadúšnascʹ), раўнаду́шша n (raŭnadúšša)
• Bulgarian: безразли́чие (bg) n (bezrazlíčie), равноду́шие (bg) n (ravnodúšie)
• Catalan: indiferència (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不關心／不关心 (bùguānxīn), 冷淡 (zh) (lěngdàn)

• Czech: lhostejnost (cs) f
• Danish: ligegyldighed c
• Dutch: onverschilligheid (nl) f
• Esperanto: indiferenteco, malzorgo, neglekto
• Finnish: välinpitämättömyys (fi), penseys (fi)
• French: indifférence (fr) f
• Galician: indiferenza f
• German: Gleichgültigkeit (de) f
• Greek: αδιαφορία (el) f (adiaforía)
• Hebrew: אֲדִישׁוּת (he) f (adishút)
• Hindi: उदासीनता (hi) f (udāsīntā), बेरूख़ी f (berūxī)
• Hungarian: közöny (hu)
• Ido: indiferenteso (io)
• Irish: fuarchúis f
• Italian: indifferenza (it) f
• Japanese: 無関心 (ja) (むかんしん, mukanshin), 冷淡さ (ja) (れいたんさ, reitan sa)
• Korean: 무관심(無關心) (ko) (mugwansim)
• Macedonian: рамнодушност f (ramnodušnost)
• Maori: arokore
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: likegyldighet (no) m or f

  Nynorsk: likesæle f

• Polish: obojętność (pl)
• Portuguese: indiferença (pt) f
• Romanian: indiferență (ro) f
• Russian: безразли́чие (ru) n (bezrazlíčije), равноду́шие (ru) n (ravnodúšije)
• Sanskrit: उदास (sa) m (udāsa)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: равно̀душно̄ст f

  Roman: ravnòdušnōst (sh) f

• Slovak: ľahostajnosť f
• Slovene: ravnodušnost f
• Spanish: indiferencia (es) f, displicencia (es) f
• Swedish: likgiltighet (sv) c
• Tagalog: kalatubaan
• Turkish: ilgisizlik (tr), kayıtsızlık (tr), umursamazlık (tr)
• Ukrainian: байду́жість (uk) f (bajdúžistʹ), байду́жність (uk) f (bajdúžnistʹ), рівноду́шшя n (rivnodúššja)

unbiased impartiality

• Bulgarian: безпристра́стност f (bezpristrástnost)
• Hungarian: elfogulatlanság (hu)
• Irish: fuarchúis f
• Russian: беспристра́стность (ru) f (bespristrástnostʹ)

unconcerned nonchalance

• Bulgarian: равноду́шие (bg) n (ravnodúšie)
• Hungarian: közöny (hu)
• Irish: fuarchúis f
• Russian: равноду́шие (ru) n (ravnodúšije)