Meaning & use
apathetic
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Meaning
adjectivecomparable
Not caring about anything, or unwilling to show interest, enthusiasm or feeling about something that matters.
Grammar: Often followed by about or toward: apathetic about politics.
Patterns
- apathetic about something
- apathetic towards something
Many students felt apathetic about the school election.
He grew apathetic after years of being ignored.
The team's apathetic response disappointed the coach.
Word forms
| comparative | more apathetic |
|---|---|
| superlative | most apathetic |
Common combinations
- apathetic about
- Voters seemed apathetic about the local race.
- apathetic attitude
- His apathetic attitude annoyed his teammates.
- apathetic response
- The proposal received an apathetic response.
- grow apathetic
- People grow apathetic when nothing ever changes.
- politically apathetic
- Politically apathetic citizens often skip elections.
Synonyms and how they differ
- indifferent
- Indifferent means having no preference or concern, while apathetic suggests a lack of energy as well as interest.
- uninterested
- Uninterested is milder and describes a single subject, whereas apathetic suggests a general lack of caring.
- listless
- Listless describes physical lack of energy, while apathetic focuses on lack of emotion or concern.
- unmoved
- Unmoved means not emotionally affected in one moment, while apathetic describes a lasting state.
Opposites
Word family
- apathy noun
- lack of interest or concern
- apathetically adverb
- in an uninterested way
Commonly confused: apathetic or empathetic? apathetic or sympathetic?
apathetic vs empathetic
Empathetic means able to share another person's feelings, which is nearly the opposite of apathetic.
apathetic vs sympathetic
Sympathetic means showing care for someone's troubles, unlike apathetic, which shows no concern.
Practice
Which word is closest in meaning to apathetic?
Choose one answer.
Apathetic means showing no interest or concern, so indifferent is the closest. Furious, generous and cautious describe different attitudes.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “apathetic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.