Apathy, according to the AHD, is "lack of interest or concern, esp. in matters of general importance or appeal; indifference" or "lack of emotion or feeling; impassiveness". It comes from the Latin apathia which itself comes from the Greek apatheia from apathes which means "without feeling". It's composed of the prefix a- meaning without and the root -pathos meaning feeling. It's origins stay very true to it's modern usage as apathy is a lack of feeling. I find it interesting how many people often use apathy and ambivalence fairly interchangeably. While they both imply a lack of a firm stance or decision one way or the other, they are very far apart when one actually looks at them. The one means to have feelings both ways, while the other means to have no feelings either way.
-American Heritage Dictionary
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The youth minister at my Southern Baptist church once said "hate is not the opposite of love; APATHY is the opposite of love."
ReplyDeleteI guess the opposite of hot is lukewarm, then.
I don't know where that leaves cold.