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Webster 1913 Edition


Indifference

In-dif′fer-ence

,
Noun.
[L.
indifferentia
similarity, lack of difference: cf. F.
indifférence
.]
1.
The quality or state of being indifferent, or not making a difference; lack 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
.
Syn. – Carelessness; negligence; unconcern; apathy; insensibility; coldness; lukewarmness.

Webster 1828 Edition


Indifference

INDIF'FERENCE

,
Noun.
[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.

Definition 2024


indifference

indifference

See also: indifférence

English

Noun

indifference (plural indifferences)

  1. The state of being indifferent.
  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, Winston Churchill, chapter 1, in The Celebrity:
      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.

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