Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Marked by blithe unconcern; nonchalant.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Destitute of care or forethought; heedless of consequences or of the future; indifferent; unconcerned.
Wiktionary
- adj. Carefree, nonchalant, indifferent; casually unconcerned.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Careless; heedless; indifferent; unconcerned.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. marked by blithe unconcern
Etymologies
- From French insouciant from in- (“not”) + souciant (“worrying”) (Wiktionary)
- French : in-, not (from Old French; see in-1) + souciant, present participle of soucier, to trouble (from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *sollicītāre, alteration of Latin sollicitāre, to vex; see solicit). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“There's a wonderful cover shot to the 1958 album Legrand Jazz, with pianist-composer Michel Legrand wearing an expression of insouciant expectation, Gauloise at the corner of his mouth, indolently summoning invisible sidemen to action.”
“She was slinky in a short black skirt with ridiculously high heels -- nosebleed heels -- and she moved across the stage in a kind of insouciant shimmy.”
“I laughed so much with both surprise and delight that I gladly relinquished the bread to gabbling beaks and they went on their way to steam-roller another 'insouciant' picnicker.”
“One is that I know they probably FEEL great; they often have that kind of insouciant look about them that I think is partly due to not having a crotch seam and being able to get dressed in seconds.”
“there are definition questions what does "insouciant" mean?”
“But when she spoke, she had an insouciant and unpracticed glamour that belonged in a Hollywood film.”
“Getty Images Velvet slippers can add an insouciant flavor to jeans on Kanye West, suits and shorts.”
The Wall Street Journal: How Going Outside in Slippers Became Cool
“Instead, men are hitting the streets in hard-soled, heeled slippers, using them to add an insouciant flavor to shorts, cropped pants, jeans and full suits.”
The Wall Street Journal: How Going Outside in Slippers Became Cool
“When I complimented her on her dress, she gave an insouciant Gallic shrug, and leaned forward to confide: "Well, it is Lanvin, but, you know, really, it was from H&M.”
The Wall Street Journal: The Building Blocks of a Smart Wardrobe
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘insouciant’.
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Iaan
dirigisme, dystopia, cacotopia, ex ante, veritable, indefatigable, curmudgeon, desultory, antediluvian, transmogrify, pendent, elongate and 269 more...
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Spring
famulus, congeries, pogonotrophy, rosarian, anomie, aiguillette, paseo, insouciant, gimcrack, atheling, chelonian
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501
Classic
mete, ire, bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado, toil, onus, aberration, abstruse, anomaly and 401 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abject, abjure, abscission, abscond, abstemious, abstinence, abysmal, accretion and 787 more...
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words 1
Traduce, Ramify, precipitous, rapture, adumbrate, knell, smolder, vagary, choleric, sibylline, hypocritical, jejune and 135 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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From reading
Collected from reading
venerate, reprobate, reticent, adoration, ethereal, ephemeral, equivocal, contumacious, heinous, solicitous, agnostic, aberration and 335 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2046 more...
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phrontistery - i
from phrontistery.info
izzat, izzard, ixiodic, izard, ivresse, ixora, ivorist, ivoride, ivorine, iulus, iulan, ithomiid and 510 more...
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January 2012
bloviate, pastiche, apparat, facile, paroxysm, pique, bedfellow, pedigree, tutelage, protege, protégé, retroactive and 196 more...
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New Words
Words I want to add to my working vocabulary.
picayune, elision, intimated, modicum, non sequitur, insouciant, vituperate, asperity, perfidious, gainsay, fulmination, inimical and 11 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1824 more...
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MyList
peter out, fraying, jump on the bandw..., indignation, eclectic, hung up, salutary, hoary, warped, glaring, blue-collar, concomitant and 105 more...
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All The Words
I enjoy collecting words, for I have no fear of them ever running out.
tatterdemalion, panopticon, idioglossia, hypnagogue, hypnopomp, defenestration, anacoluthon, scofflaw, affront, edifying, palimpsest, naufrage and 475 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for insouciant.
sionnach Wouldn't insoucigrasshopper make more sense? Sep 16, 2009
cranewang in-SOO-siant May 5, 2008
shoepixie A darling, darling word! and a favourite of mine, always always.
Apr 28, 2008
jrgoddess "Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace, pg.509:
"Hal was confident Pemulis would remove the insouciant hat the minute they were called in on what was presumably going to be the carpet." Feb 17, 2008
cravinforclavin Also a favorite of Moby. I learned this one during a Moby VH1 special about seven years ago. Nov 10, 2007
gavin a desired for state and a word with an delicious mouthfeel Sep 19, 2007
nicsims carefree, nonchalant Sep 14, 2007
pianoduchamp insouciant....with my mind on my money and my money on my mind -snoop dogg Jan 17, 2007
marco_nj Also a favorite of Margaret Atwood Dec 3, 2006