indifference

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

Lack of interest

Nouns

1. indifference, neutrality; coldness, frigidity (see insensibility); unconcern, insouciance, nonchalance; inattention, lack of interest, anorexia, apathy; supineness; disdain (see contempt); carelessness, neglect. Informal, no skin off one's nose.

2. sameness, equivalence, equality; mediocrity.

Verbs — be indifferent or neutral, be all the same or all one; take no interest in, have no desire, taste, or relish for, not care for, care nothing for or about, not give or care a hang, a rap, two straws, or a damn, not care a tinker's damn; not bat an eye[lash], not care a straw (see unimportance); not mind; set at naught, make light of; spurn, disdain (see contempt). Slang, not give a [flying] fuck or a shit.

Adjectives

1. indifferent, neutral, cold, frigid, lukewarm; impervious; cool [as a cucumber]; on the fence, neither fish nor fowl, middle-of-the-road; unambitious, complacent; unconcerned, insouciant, dispassionate, easygoing, devil-may-care, happy-go-lucky, careless, listless, lackadaisical; halfhearted; unambitious, unaspiring, undesirous, unsolicitous, unattracted; all one (to). Slang, insensate.

2. unattractive, unalluring, undesired, undesirable, uncared for, unwished, unvalued; insipid; vain.

Adverbs — indifferently, like water off a duck's back; for the devil of it, for aught one cares.

Interjections — never mind! who cares! what's the difference!

Quotations — Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all — the apathy of human beings (Helen Keller), Take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented (Elie Wiesel), Our sympathy is cold to the relation of distant misery (Edward Gibbon), All politics are based on the indifference of the majority (James Reston).

Antonyms, see desire, curiosity, taste.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [Apathy]

Syn. 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]

Syn. unimportance, irrelevance, triviality; see insignificance .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) a.

apathy, disinterest, unconcern, nonchalance, impassiveness, lack of interest, detachment, stoniness, disregard, insensitivity. ''The worst sin toward our fellow creatures.''—George Bernard Shaw.

ANT.: interest, concern, passion

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun 1. Lack of importance: inconsequence, incon-sequentiality, inconsequentialness, insignificance, insignificancy, unimportance. See CONCERN. 2. Lack of emotion or interest: apathy, disinterest, impassivity, incuriosity, incuriousness, insensibility, insensibleness, lassitude, lethargy, listlessness, phlegm, stolidity, stolidness, unconcern, uninterest, unresponsiveness. See FEELINGS.