[syn: indifferent, so-so(p)]
10. neither too great nor too little;
- Example: "a couple of indifferent hills to climb"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Indifferent \In*dif"fer*ent\, a. [F. indiff['e]rent, L.
indifferens. See In- not, and Different.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Not making a difference; having no influence or
preponderating weight; involving no preference, concern,
or attention; of no account; without significance or
importance.
[1913 Webster]
Dangers are to me indifferent. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Everything in the world is indifferent but sin.
--Jer. Taylor.
[1913 Webster]
His slightest and most indifferent acts . . . were
odious in the clergyman's sight. --Hawthorne.
[1913 Webster]
2. Neither particularly good, not very bad; of a middle state
or quality; passable; mediocre.
[1913 Webster]
The staterooms are in indifferent order. --Sir W.
Scott.
[1913 Webster]
3. Not inclined to one side, party, or choice more than to
another; neutral; impartial.
[1913 Webster]
Indifferent in his choice to sleep or die.
--Addison.
[1913 Webster]
4. Feeling no interest, anxiety, or care, respecting
anything; unconcerned; inattentive; apathetic; heedless;
as, to be indifferent to the welfare of one's family.
[1913 Webster]
It was a law of Solon, that any person who, in the
civil commotions of the republic, remained neuter,
or an indifferent spectator of the contending
parties, should be condemned to perpetual
banishment. --Addison.
[1913 Webster]
5. (Law) Free from bias or prejudice; impartial; unbiased;
disinterested.
[1913 Webster]
In choice of committees for ripening business for
the counsel, it is better to choose indifferent
persons than to make an indifferency by putting in
those that are strong on both sides. --Bacon.
[1913 Webster]
Indifferent tissue (Anat.), the primitive, embryonic,
undifferentiated tissue, before conversion into
connective, muscular, nervous, or other definite tissue.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Indifferent \In*dif"fer*ent\, adv.
To a moderate degree; passably; tolerably. [Obs.] "News
indifferent good." --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
indifferent
adj 1: marked by a lack of interest; "an apathetic audience";
"the universe is neither hostile nor friendly; it is
simply indifferent" [syn: apathetic, indifferent]
2: showing no care or concern in attitude or action;
"indifferent to the sufferings of others"; "indifferent to
her plea"
3: (usually followed by `to') unwilling or refusing to pay heed;
"deaf to her warnings" [syn: deaf(p), indifferent(p)]
4: (often followed by `to') lacking importance; not mattering
one way or the other; "whether you choose to do it or not is
a matter that is quite immaterial (or indifferent)"; "what
others think is altogether indifferent to him" [syn:
immaterial, indifferent]
5: fairly poor to not very good; "has an indifferent singing
voice"; "has indifferent qualifications for the job"
6: having only a limited ability to react chemically; chemically
inactive; "inert matter"; "an indifferent chemical in a
reaction" [syn: inert, indifferent, neutral]
7: marked by no especial liking or dislike or preference for one
thing over another; "indifferent about which book you would
give them"; "was indifferent to their acceptance or rejection
of her invitation"
8: characterized by a lack of partiality; "a properly
indifferent jury"; "an unbiasgoted account of her family
problems" [syn: indifferent, unbiased, unbiassed]
9: being neither good nor bad; "an indifferent performance"; "a
gifted painter but an indifferent actor"; "her work at the
office is passable"; "a so-so golfer"; "feeling only so-so";
"prepared a tolerable dinner"; "a tolerable working knowledge
of French" [syn: indifferent, so-so(p)]
10: neither too great nor too little; "a couple of indifferent
hills to climb"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
253 Moby Thesaurus words for "indifferent":
Laodicean, Olympian, airy, aloof, apathetic, average, backward,
balking, balky, benumbed, betwixt and between, blah, blase, bored,
by-the-way, callous, careless, casual, centrist, chill, cold,
comatose, commonplace, cool, cursory, dead, degage, desensitized,
detached, devil-may-care, dilatory, dilute, diluted, disinterested,
dispassionate, disregardant, disregardful, distant, distracted,
distrait, dull, easy, easygoing, emotionless, equitable, even,
evenhanded, everyday, fade, fair, fair to middling, fairish,
fervorless, fifty-fifty, flat, flavorless, flippant, forgetful,
free and easy, frigid, glacial, grudging, gruelly, half-and-half,
halfhearted, heartless, hebetudinous, heedless, hopeless, icy,
immaterial, impartial, impassive, impersonal, impotent, imprecise,
in a stupor, inadvertent, inane, inappreciable, inattentive,
inconsequential, inconsiderate, incurious, independent,
indevotional, indevout, indifferentist, inferior, inobservant,
insensible, insensitive, insignificant, insipid, insouciant,
intermediate, jejune, just, lackadaisical, lackluster, laggard,
languid, lax, lazy, lenient, lethargic, lightweight, listless,
loath, loose, lukewarm, mean, mediocre, medium, middling, midway,
mild, milk-and-water, mindless, minor, moderate, modest,
namby-pamby, negligent, neuter, neutral, nonaligned, nonchalant,
noncommitted, nonobservant, nonpartisan, nonreligious, not bad,
nugatory, numb, numbed, objective, oblivious, of a kind, of a sort,
of sorts, offhand, on the fence, ordinary, overindulgent,
overpermissive, pappy, passable, passive, perfunctory, permissive,
phlegmatic, pluckless, pococurante, poor, pulpy, reckless,
regardless, relaxed, reluctant, remiss, remote, removed, renitent,
resigned, respectable, respectless, restive, sapless, savorless,
slack, slight, slipshod, sloppy, slow, slow to, sluggish, so so,
so-so, soft, soporific, spiceless, spiritless, spunkless, stale,
stoic, stolid, stupefied, supine, tactless, tasteless, tedious,
tepid, thin, third-force, third-world, thoughtless, tolerable,
torpid, trifling, trivial, unbiased, uncaring, uncommitted,
uncompassionate, unconcerned, undazzled, undevout, undiplomatic,
undistinguished, undutiful, unemotional, unenthusiastic, unfeeling,
unflavored, unheedful, unheeding, unimportant, uninfluenced,
uninquiring, uninspired, uninterested, uninvolved, unjaundiced,
unmarking, unmindful, unnoticing, unnoting, unobservant,
unobserving, unprejudiced, unprepared, unprepossessed, unready,
unreligious, unremarking, unrestrained, unsavory, unsolicitous,
unswayed, unsympathetic, untactful, unthinking, unzealous, vapid,
washy, watered, watered-down, watery, weak, wishy-washy, withdrawn,
zealless
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):
INDIFFERENT. To have no bias nor partiality. 7 Conn. 229. A juror, an
arbitrator, and a witness, ought to be indifferent, and when they are not
so, they may be challenged. See 9 Conn. 42.
The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):
INDIFFERENT, adj. Imperfectly sensible to distinctions among things.
"You tiresome man!" cried Indolentio's wife,
"You've grown indifferent to all in life."
"Indifferent?" he drawled with a slow smile;
"I would be, dear, but it is not worth while."
Apuleius M. Gokul