| Word | apathy |
|---|---|
| Date | April 29, 2009 |
| Type | noun |
| Syllables | AP-uh-thee |
| Etymology | There's no reason to be uncaring about the origins of "apathy" -- though there is a clue to the word's beginnings in that sentence. "Apathy" was borrowed into English in the late 16th century from Greek "apatheia," which itself comes from the adjective "apathēs," meaning "without feeling." "Apathēs," in turn, was formed by combining the negating prefix "a-" with "pathos," meaning "emotion." Incidentally, if you've guessed that "pathos" is the source of the identically spelled noun in English (meaning either "an element in experience or in artistic representation evoking pity or compassion" or "an emotion of sympathetic pity"), you are correct. "Pathos" also gave us such words as "antipathy," "empathy," "sympathy," "pathetic," and even the archaic word "pathematic" ("emotional"). |
| Examples | Every electoral season, editorials in the local newspaper complain about voter apathy and cynicism. |
| Definition | 1 : lack of feeling or emotion : impassiveness 2 : lack of interest or concern : indifference |
Tags: wordoftheday::noun
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