Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having no particular interest or concern; apathetic.
  • adjective Having no marked feeling for or against.
  • adjective Not mattering one way or the other; unimportant; immaterial.
  • adjective Characterized by a lack of partiality; unbiased.
  • adjective Being neither too much nor too little; moderate.
  • adjective Being neither good nor bad; mediocre: synonym: average.
  • adjective Not active or involved; neutral.
  • adjective Biology Undifferentiated, as cells or tissue.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Without difference of inclination; not preferring one person or thing to another; neutral; impartial; unbiased; disinterested: as, an indifferent judge, juror, or arbitrator.
  • Feeling no interest, anxiety, or care; unconcerned; apathetic: as, a man indifferent to his eternal welfare.
  • Not making a difference; having no influence or preponderating weight; immaterial; of no account: as, it is indifferent which road we take.
  • Regarded without difference of feeling; not exciting special interest; uninteresting.
  • Falling short of any standard of excellence; of common or mediocre quality or kind; only passable or tolerable; ordinary.
  • In biology, undifferentiated; primitive; common; not specialized.
  • noun One who is indifferent or apathetic.
  • noun That which is indifferent or an object of indifference; that which affords no decisive ground of choice.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb obsolete To a moderate degree; passably; tolerably.
  • adjective Not making a difference; having no influence or preponderating weight; involving no preference, concern, or attention; of no account; without significance or importance.
  • adjective Neither particularly good, not very bad; of a middle state or quality; passable; mediocre.
  • adjective Not inclined to one side, party, or choice more than to another; neutral; impartial.
  • adjective Feeling no interest, anxiety, or care, respecting anything; unconcerned; inattentive; apathetic; heedless.
  • adjective (Law) Free from bias or prejudice; impartial; unbiased; disinterested.
  • adjective (Anat.) the primitive, embryonic, undifferentiated tissue, before conversion into connective, muscular, nervous, or other definite tissue.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Not caring or concerned; uninterested, apathetic.
  • adjective Mediocre, usually used negatively in modern usage.
  • adjective Having no preference or bias, being impartial.
  • adjective Not significant in size or amount, immaterial.
  • adjective mechanics Being in the state of neutral equilibrium.
  • adverb obsolete To some extent, in some degree (intermediate between very and not at all); moderately, tolerably, fairly.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective having only a limited ability to react chemically; chemically inactive
  • adjective being neither good nor bad
  • adjective marked by no especial liking or dislike or preference for one thing over another
  • adjective fairly poor to not very good
  • adjective characterized by a lack of partiality
  • adjective neither too great nor too little
  • adjective (often followed by `to') lacking importance; not mattering one way or the other
  • adjective showing no care or concern in attitude or action
  • adjective marked by a lack of interest
  • adjective (usually followed by `to') unwilling or refusing to pay heed

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin indifferēns, indifferent- : in-, not; see in– + differēns, different; see different.]

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Examples

  • IV. i.93 (416,7) [garters of an indifferent knit] What is the sense of this I know not, unless it means, that their _garters_ should be _fellows_; _indifferent_, or _not different_, one from the other.

    Notes to Shakespeare — Volume 01: Comedies Samuel Johnson 1746

  • For there being, says he, in Nature some things good, some things bad, and some things between them both, which we call indifferent; there is no man but would rather have the good than the indifferent, and the indifferent than the bad.

    Essays and Miscellanies 2004

  • The PAC also expressed concern about what it termed the indifferent manner in which the national and provincial departments of safety and security were treating the "legitimate grievances" of police personnel in Transkei.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1995

  • No one has been able to remain indifferent to such a monumental slip of the tongue.

    Yoani Sanchez: Fidel's Words Continue to Echo... Bitterly Yoani Sanchez 2010

  • One thing I guarantee: it will be hard to remain indifferent after meeting Anthony, Daisy, Emily, Francisco and Bianca.

    Jasmine Boussem: Is the Wait for 'Superman' Over? Jasmine Boussem 2010

  • "The Church cannot remain indifferent before the separation and divorce of couples", Pope Benedict cried, "before the break-up of homes and the repercussions on children, who need extremely precise points of reference for their instruction and education: in other words determined and confident parents who participate in their upbringing".

    Pope Benedict XVI 2009

  • No one has been able to remain indifferent to such a monumental slip of the tongue.

    Yoani Sanchez: Fidel's Words Continue to Echo... Bitterly Yoani Sanchez 2010

  • No one has been able to remain indifferent to such a monumental slip of the tongue.

    Yoani Sanchez: Fidel's Words Continue to Echo... Bitterly Yoani Sanchez 2010

  • One thing I guarantee: it will be hard to remain indifferent after meeting Anthony, Daisy, Emily, Francisco and Bianca.

    Jasmine Boussem: Is the Wait for 'Superman' Over? Jasmine Boussem 2010

  • One thing I guarantee: it will be hard to remain indifferent after meeting Anthony, Daisy, Emily, Francisco and Bianca.

    Jasmine Boussem: Is the Wait for 'Superman' Over? Jasmine Boussem 2010

Comments

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  • Marcel Duchamp redefined art in the 20th century based on his indifference to objects

    January 1, 2012