indiscriminate

English

Alternative forms

• indiscriminant (nonstandard)

Etymology

First attested in 1598; from in- +‎ discriminate.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪn.dɪsˈkɹɪm.ɪn.ət/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

indiscriminate (comparative more indiscriminate, superlative most indiscriminate)

1. (of things) Not marked by discrimination or discernment; (by extension) confused, promiscuous.
   • 1838, Connop Thirwall, History of Greece, volume II. xiv. 195:

     Otanes […] commanded an indiscriminate slaughter, without regard to age or to place.

   • 2025 May 17, Henry Mance, “Now we are almost out of time”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 12:

     The UK's fishing industry has complained that Ocean is “indiscriminate” (arguably an ironic adjective for anyone involved in trawling).

2. (of a person) Without care in making distinctions, thoughtless.

   How can anyone be so indiscriminate in making friends as he is?

   • 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 126:

     An animal so indiscriminate in its eating habits that it eats coal, boat cushions, and tomtoms, would be only too eager to taste a swimmer or a diver—which must look more edible than an unopened can of salmon.

Synonyms

• promiscuous

Derived terms

• indiscriminately
• indiscriminateness
• indiscriminative

Translations

Without care or making distinctions, thoughtless

• Armenian: անխտիր (hy) (anxtir)
• Belarusian: непераборлівы (njepjerabórlivy), непатрабавальны (njepatrabavalʹny)
• Bulgarian: безразборен (bg) (bezrazboren), безсистемен (bg) (bezsistemen)
• Catalan: indiscriminat
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不加區別的 / 不加区别的 (bùjiā-qūbié de), 不加選擇的 / 不加选择的 (bùjiā-xuǎnzé de), 不加鑒別的 / 不加鉴别的 (bùjiā-jiànbié de), 不分好壞的 / 不分好坏的 (bùfēn-hǎohuài de)

• Finnish: (of a person) harkitsematon (fi), sokea (fi), arvostelukyvytön, (of an action) harkitsematon (fi), umpimähkäinen (fi), sokea (fi), silmitön (fi)
• French: indiscriminé (fr), indistinct (fr)
• German: unüberlegt (de), wahllos (de), willkürlich (de), gedankenlos (de), unbedacht (de), unterschiedslos (de), unkritisch (de), ohne Unterschied
• Italian: indiscriminato (it)
• Japanese: 無差別 (ja) (musabetsu)
• Kazakh: алаламай (alalamai)
• Latin: promiscuus
• Macedonian: безра́зборен (bezrázboren), непро́мислен (neprómislen)
• Russian: неразборчивый (ru) (nerazborčivyj), неизбира́тельный (ru) (neizbirátelʹnyj)
• Spanish: indiscriminado (es), desconsiderado (es)
• Swedish: oaktsam (sv), urskillningslös (sv)
• Ukrainian: нерозбі́рливий (nerozbírlyvyj), невибірко́вий (nevybirkóvyj)

Italian

Adjective

indiscriminate f pl

1. feminine plural of indiscriminato