apathetic

English

Alternative forms

• apathetical

Etymology

From apathy + -etic.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌæpəˈθɛtɪk/, [ˌæpəˈθɛɾɪ̈k]
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌæpəˈθɛtɪk/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛtɪk

Adjective

apathetic (comparative more apathetic, superlative most apathetic)

1. Void of feeling; not susceptible of deep emotion.

   Synonyms: indifferent, unconcerned; see also Thesaurus:apathetic

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 167:

     He then added a few general offers of service, but offered as if he would be glad if they were accepted; and when Guido knelt for his parting benediction, it was given with a warmth and sincerity not often used by the apathetic and haughty minister.

2. Of, or pertaining to apatheism.

Derived terms

• apathetically
• apatheticness
• nonapathetic
• unapathetic

Related terms

• apatheism
• apatheist
• pathetic

Translations

void of feeling — see also apathic,‎ indifferent

• Albanian: apatik (sq)
• Arabic: لَا مُبَالٍ (lā mubālin)
• Bulgarian: апатичен (bg) (apatičen), безстрастен (bg) (bezstrasten), равнодушен (bg) (ravnodušen)
• Catalan: apàtic (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 漠然 (zh) (mòrán)

• Cornish: mygyl
• Czech: apatický (cs), netečný (cs)
• Danish: apatisk
• Dutch: apathisch (nl), onverschillig (nl)
• Esperanto: apatia (eo)
• Finnish: apaattinen (fi)
• French: indifférent (fr)
• Galician: apático
• German: apathisch (de), ungerührt (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ἀπαθής (apathḗs)

• Hindi: संवेदनहीन (samvedanhīn), उदासीन (hi) (udāsīn)
• Hungarian: apatikus (hu), fásult (hu), egykedvű (hu), unott (hu), közönyös (hu), érzéketlen (hu)
• Icelandic: áhugalaus
• Ido: apatioza (io)
• Indonesian: apatis (id)
• Irish: fuarchúiseach
• Italian: apatico (it), atono (it)
• Japanese: 無感動な (mukandō na)
• Kazakh: енжар (enjar), селқос (selqos), сүлесоқ (sülesoq)
• Latin: lentus (la)
• Māori: hūhē, koroukore
• Norwegian: apatisk
• Polish: apatyczny (pl)
• Portuguese: apático (pt)
• Russian: апати́чный (ru) (apatíčnyj), равноду́шный (ru) (ravnodúšnyj), безразли́чный (ru) (bezrazlíčnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: apatetičan, апатетичан, apatičan (sh), апатичан
• Spanish: desganado (es), apatético
• Swedish: apatisk (sv)
• Turkish: ilgisiz (tr)
• Vietnamese: vô cảm (vi)

Noun

apathetic (plural apathetics)

1. (chiefly politics) An apathetic or indifferent person, especially one who shows no interest in a particular issue.
   • 1965 November 19, “Universities: The Spectrum on Viet Nam”, in Time, volume 86, number 21, page 67:

     On the left are the activist Vietniks, eager to protest the war; next are the doves, who oppose the U.S. role but shun demonstrations; and in the middle are the apathetics, who simply are not concerned enough to think through their own stand.

References

• “apathetic”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.