/in dif"euhr euhns, -dif"reuhns/ , n.
1. lack of interest or concern: We were shocked by their indifference toward poverty.
2. unimportance; little or no concern: Whether or not to attend the party is a matter of indifference to him.
3. the quality or condition of being indifferent.
4. mediocre quality; mediocrity.
[ 1400-50; late ME, var. of INDIFFERENCY indifferentia. See INDIFFERENT, -ENCE, -ENCY ]
Syn. 1. INDIFFERENCE, UNCONCERN, LISTLESSNESS, APATHY, INSENSIBILITY all imply lack of feeling. INDIFFERENCE denotes an absence of feeling or interest; UNCONCERN, an absence of concern or solicitude, a calm or cool indifference in the face of what might be expected to cause uneasiness or apprehension; LISTLESSNESS, an absence of inclination or interest, a languid indifference to what is going on about one; APATHY, a profound intellectual and emotional indifference suggestive of faculties either naturally sluggish or dulled by emotional disturbance, mental illness, or prolonged sickness; INSENSIBILITY, an absence of capacity for feeling or of susceptibility to emotional influences.
Ant. 1. eagerness, responsiveness.