APATHY

apathy, indifference, numbness, spiritlessness

(noun) the trait of lacking enthusiasm for or interest in things generally

apathy

(noun) an absence of emotion or enthusiasm

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

apathy (usually uncountable, plural apathies)

Lack of emotion or motivation; lack of interest or enthusiasm towards something; disinterest (in something).

Synonyms: indifference, neutrality

Antonyms: empathy, sympathy

Anagrams

• Pyhtää

Source: Wiktionary


Ap"a*thy, n.; pl. Apathies. Etym: [L. apathia, Gr. apathie. See Pathos.]

Definition: Want of feeling; privation of passion, emotion, or excitement; dispassion; -- applied either to the body or the mind. As applied to the mind, it is a calmness, indolence, or state of indifference, incapable of being ruffled or roused to active interest or exertion by pleasure, pain, or passion. "The apathy of despair." Macaulay. A certain apathy or sluggishness in his nature which led him . . . to leave events to take their own course. Prescott. According to the Stoics, apathy meant the extinction of the passions by the ascendency of reason. Fleming.

Note: In the first ages of the church, the Christians adopted the term to express a contempt of earthly concerns.

Syn.

– Insensibility; unfeelingness; indifference; unconcern; stoicism; supineness; sluggishness.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

4 April 2025

GUILLOTINE

(verb) kill by cutting the head off with a guillotine; “The French guillotined many Vietnamese while they occupied the country”


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, on 25 September 2016, the Birla Institute of Management Technology (India) in Uttar Pradesh, India, constructed the largest coffee cups pyramid consisting of 23,821 cups. They used paper takeaway coffee cups to build the pyramid.

coffee icon