Word of the Day

apathy

\AP-uh-thee\
noun

Meaning
1 : lack of feeling or emotion : impassiveness
*2 : lack of interest or concern : indifference

Example Sentence
Every electoral season, editorials in the local newspaper complain about voter apathy and cynicism.

Did you know?
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." "Apathes," 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").

This is how I'm feeling again lately It comes in waves, where I just don't seem to give a sh*t about much. Gee, I wonder if a pharmaceutical might help?

Is it ideopathic? Is it genetic?

Actually, it has come in waves over and over throughout my life. When I was in high school, the word was that we were one of the most apathetic senior classes ever. When I was in college, student apathy was rampant on campus. I know it's all in my head, and there is much to be grateful for, but ... it's in my head. A hundred years ago, I'll bet it wasn't as rampant, even though the word has been around since the 16th century. There wasn't as much leisure time available for people to get jaded. (sigh)