From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Apathy \Ap"a*thy\, n.; pl. {Apathies}. [L. apathia, Gr. ?; 'a
priv. + ?, fr. ?, ?, to suffer: cf. F. apathie. See
{Pathos}.]
Want of feeling; privation of passion, emotion, or
excitement; dispassion; -- applied either to the body or the
mind. As applied to the mind, it is a calmness, indolence, or
state of indifference, incapable of being ruffled or roused
to active interest or exertion by pleasure, pain, or passion.
"The apathy of despair." --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
A certain apathy or sluggishness in his nature which
led him . . . to leave events to take their own course.
--Prescott.
[1913 Webster]
According to the Stoics, apathy meant the extinction of
the passions by the ascendency of reason. --Fleming.
[1913 Webster]
Note: In the first ages of the church, the Christians adopted
the term to express a contempt of earthly concerns.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Insensibility; unfeelingness; indifference; unconcern;
stoicism; supineness; sluggishness.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
apathy
n 1: an absence of emotion or enthusiasm
2: the trait of lacking enthusiasm for or interest in things
generally [syn: {apathy}, {indifference}, {numbness},
{spiritlessness}]
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