apathy

American  

[ap-uh-thee] / ˈæp ə θi /

noun

• apathies
  plural

1. absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement.

   Synonyms:

   coolness

   Antonyms:

   fervor, ardor

2. lack of interest in or concern for things that others find moving or exciting.

3. Stoicism. Also apatheia, apathia freedom from emotion of any kind.

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apathy British  

/ ˈæpəθɪ /

noun

1. absence of interest in or enthusiasm for things generally considered interesting or moving

2. absence of emotion

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Usage

What does apathy mean? Apathy is the state of not caring. The word is especially used to refer to a lack of interest or concern about things, especially those that others find important or exciting. It can also mean the absence or suppression of emotion or passion. Apathy often means about the same thing as indifference, but it’s more often used in the context of someone’s lack of action when action is needed. The adjective apathetic is used to describe someone in such a state. The word apathy is typically used in a negative way to criticize such a state or attitude as being irresponsible or insensitive. When someone is accused of apathy, it usually means the person making the accusation thinks the apathetic person should care more—or at all. Example: The apathy of your generation is astounding—it’s like none of you care about any of the big problems in the world!

Synonym Usage

See indifference.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• apathies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of apathy

First recorded in 1595–1605; from French or directly from Latin apathīa, from Greek apátheia “insensibility to suffering,” equivalent to apathe- (stem of apathḗs ) “unfeeling” ( a- a- ⁶ + pathe-, variant stem of páthos pathos ) + -ia -ia

Explanation

Use the noun apathy when someone isn't interested in the important things that are happening. You might feel apathy for the political process after watching candidates bicker tediously with one another. Although apathy is a lazy-sounding word indicating a lack of interest, action, or emotion, it has traveled through many languages to arrive in English. From the Greek apatheia, "freedom from suffering" or "impassibility," apathy has existed in English since the 17th century. Not just one person, but a whole segment of the population can be accused of inaction or emotional detachment: the expressions voter apathy, student apathy, and consumer apathy show just how unenthusiastic groups of people can be.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

apathy apathies

In “Kitchen Confidential,” Bourdain describes his decision to head to Provincetown as an impulse motivated less by romantic desire than by general apathy.

From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026

Others came up with captions including "Don't Look Up," a reference to the 2021 film starring Leonardo Di Caprio parodying societal apathy to the climate crisis.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

Haynes, coupled with a fearless Julianne Moore, took down ’80s AIDS-era apathy and vapid Valley lifestyles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

The police station head Rajiv Kumar has since been suspended for "negligence, apathy, and insensitivity", Begusarai police said.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026

Even volunteer work at a hospital would snap you out of your apathy, and it would probably be non-taxing on your valve and other things.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

But European civilization, as Shirer's people embody it, has become a complex of nostalgias, apathies, pleasant habits.

From Time Magazine Archive

The next news I had of him was in his essay, "Ordered South," concerning the emotions, apathies, and pleasures, on that then fairy coast, of a young man who thinks that his days are numbered.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 1 (of 25) by Andrew Lang

After interviews have been compassed with long foresight, we must be tormented presently by baffled blows, by sudden, unseasonable apathies, by epilepsies of wit and of animal spirits, in the heyday of friendship and thought.

From Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Edna Henry Lee Turpin

After interviews have been compassed with long foresight we must be tormented presently by baffled blows, by sudden, unseasonable apathies, by epilepsies of wit and of animal spirits, in the heyday of friendship and thought.

From Essays — First Series by Ralph Waldo Emerson

And yet again they seem to use words rightly when they call those joys and wishes and cautions not apathies but good conditions of the mind.

From Plutarch's Morals by Arthur Richard Shilleto

Related Words

• indifference
• insensitivity
• lethargy