indifference
/ɪnˈdɪf(ə)r(ə)ns
/noun [mass noun]
1Lack of interest, concern, or sympathy: she shrugged, feigning indifference...
- He said he was frustrated by people's indifference and lack of interest in the work of the town council.
- If international criticism or indifference does not arouse concern for how we look to others, what will?
- As expected, responses varied widely from impassioned anger to passive indifference.
Synonyms
lack of concern about, unconcern about, apathy about/towards, nonchalance about, lack of interest in, disregard for, obliviousness to, uninvolvement in/with;
heedlessness of, mindlessness of, carelessness of, dismissiveness of;
boredom with, weariness of, unresponsiveness to, lack of enthusiasm about;
impassiveness, impassivity, dispassionateness, aloofness, insouciance, detachment, distance, coldness, coolness, unresponsiveness, passionlessness, emotionlessness, lack of feeling, lack of sympathy, callousness
rare poco-curantism
1.1Unimportance: it cannot be regarded as a matter of indifference...
- If their teachers do not seriously try to teach history, then they will be replicas of our generation for whom history is a matter of indifference.
- Mass-murder and suffering were a matter of indifference to them.
- It is not a matter of indifference to Scots how the English elect to run their education system.
2Mediocrity: the indifference of Chelsea’s midfield
Synonyms
mediocrity, ordinariness, commonplaceness, lack of inspiration, passableness, adequacy;
inferiority, lack of distinction, amateurism
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'being neither good nor bad'): from Latin indifferentia, from in- 'not' + different- 'differing, deferring' (from the verb differre).