don't-careadj.n.
/ˈdəʊntˌkɛː/, U.S. /ˈdoʊn(t)ˌkɛr/ A. adj.
That shows that one does not care; careless, reckless, unconcerned.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > indifference > [adjective]
carelessOE
negligentc1390
recklessc1425
neutral1494
indifferent?1520
undifferentc1540
uncareful1560
unmindful1560
unaddicted1583
unmindful1585
perfunctory1602
disinteressed1603
come day, go day (God send Sunday)1616
disinteresteda1631
Laodicean1633
vacanta1639
unconcerned1645
easy1649
mawkish1679
indifferinga1694
concernless1706
unminding1714
nonchalanta1734
coolrife1768
uninterested1772
uncaring1786
tooth-picking1814
pococurante1815
pococurantish1821
insouciant1829
non-committal1829
don't-care1830
promiscuous1837
don't-carish1838
unpartial1840
noncurantist1882
noncuranta1913
casual1916
Gallionic1920
disengaged1958
1830 C. M. Sedgwick Clarence I. xv. 281 He has nothing of the don't care, negligent demeanour of our countrymen who..get this easy, indifferent, and careless manner.
1871 Daily News 4 Jan. We are in the don't care mood.
1895 Westm. Gaz. 5 Sept. 2/1 A hearty, good-natured, don't-care sort of person.
1911 Boys' Life Mar. 27/1 Cyril Guest laughed—the ‘don't care’ laugh of one who seeks to hide misgivings with the air of being perfectly at ease.
2011 Sunday Tribune (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 22 Nov. 1 We explained to her that my mother was desperate for treatment, but she had a don't-care attitude.
B. n.
A person who does not care; a careless, unconcerned, or indifferent person.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > indifference > [noun] > one who is indifferent
pococurante1762
bore1766
Laodicean1772
nil admirari1821
come day, go day (God send Sunday)1833
Gallio1850
don't-care1854
indifferentist1866
1854 Wrexham & Denbigh Weekly Advertiser 9 Sept. Of dont cares like Gallio, it may be added in the words of the well known maxim ‘they come to a bad end’.
1905 Daily Chron. 10 Aug. 3/7 If she is at all weak she soon becomes a ‘don't care’, and a street-door gossip.
1975 Guardian 30 Oct. 13/4 That brings the don't-knows and don't-cares into the picture.
2010 R. Hamilton America's New Empire i. 11 Some..Americans..might have had a position on a given issue but have lacked interest, the ‘don't cares’.
Phrases
Proverbial phrase (originally nursery). don't care was made to care: used as a reproving response to ‘I don't care’.Part of a rhyme: see quot. 1939.
ΚΠ
1916 M. Diver Desmond's Daughter iii. xi. 251 Did they never tell you in the nursery that don't care was made to care?
1939 ‘G. Orwell’ Coming up for Air ii. i. 51 If you said ‘Don't care’, she'd answer immediately: Don't care was made to care, Don't care was hung, Don't care was put in a pot And boiled till he was done.
1992 D. Lessing Afr. Laughter 223 We don't know! We don't care! Well, don't care was made to care.
Derivatives
don't-ˈcareism n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > indifference > [noun]
carelessness1561
neutrality1561
indifferency1608
perfunctoriness1626
indifference1660
unconcernment1660
slightiness1662
unconcernedness1675
nonchalance1678
upsitting1680
equilibrium1685
inconcernedness1688
unconcernness1700
unconcern1711
indifferentness1727
Laodiceanism1774
facility1791
insouciance1799
aloofness1817
don't-carishness1821
pococurantism1823
don't-careism1834
don't-care-a-damnativeness1841
nonchalantness1878
casualness1882
disinterest1889
noncurance1904
uncaringness1930
1834 Bristol Mercury 21 June It is not every one who possesses the phlegm of the Gazette, or who can look upon injustice with such an air of concentrated don't-care-ism.
1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 15 Dec. 7/1 The..spirit of daring don't-careism.
1972 Jet 20 Apr. 24/1 We have to move very quickly to try and undo the years of neglect and don't-careism that exist in the community.
2004 Windsor (Ontario) Star (Nexis) 4 Dec. a8 The don't care-ism today is tragic. To get some of these people up off their rear ends and away from the TV is just about impossible.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1830