Synonyms:
| calmness, | indifference, | quietness, | stoicism, |
| composure, | insensibility, | quietude, | tranquillity, |
| immobility, | lethargy, | sluggishness, | unconcern, |
| impassibility, | phlegm, | stillness, | unfeelingness. |
Apathy, according to its Greek derivation, is a simple absence of feeling or emotion. There are persons to whom a certain degree of apathy is natural, an innate sluggishness of the emotional nature. In the apathy of despair, a person gives up, without resistance or sensibility, to what he has fiercely struggled to avoid. While apathy is want of feeling, calmness is feeling without agitation. Calmness is the result of strength, courage, or trust; apathy is the result of dulness or weakness. Composure is freedom from agitation or disturbance, resulting ordinarily from force of will, or from perfect confidence in one's own resources. Impassibility is a philosophical term applied to the Deity, as infinitely exalted above all stir of passion or emotion. Unfeelingness, the Saxon word that should be the exact equivalent of apathy, really means more, a lack of the feeling one ought to have, a censurable hardness of heart. Indifference and insensibility designate the absence of feeling toward certain persons or things; apathy, entire absence of feeling. Indifference is a want of interest; insensibility is a want of feeling; unconcern has reference to consequences. We speak of insensibility of heart, immobility of countenance. Stoicism is an intentional suppression of feeling and deadening of sensibilities, while apathy is involuntary. Compare [CALM]; [REST]; [STUPOR].
Antonyms:
| agitation, | disturbance, | feeling, | sensibility, | sympathy, |
| alarm, | eagerness, | frenzy, | sensitiveness, | turbulence, |
| anxiety, | emotion, | fury, | storm, | vehemence, |
| care, | excitement, | passion, | susceptibility, | violence. |
| distress, | ||||
Prepositions:
The apathy of monastic life; apathy toward good.