Meanings
plural insouciances
- countableuncountableCarelessness, heedlessness, indifference, or casual unconcern.
So Gelernter, with an insouciance he now regrets, also chose a Lovelace as a namesake—Linda, the lead actress in "Deep Throat."
1995 May 21, Steven Levy, “The Unabomber and David Gelernter”, in The New York Times, →ISSN - countableuncountableNonchalance.
She almost felt insulted by [the wild boar's] insouciance as it rooted in her grove.
2024, Patrik Jonsson and Melanie Stetson Freeman, Florida woman kills wild boar with mango. (This is not a meme.), in: The Christian Science Monitor, August 27 2024
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe cheerful feeling you have when nothing is troubling you
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchinsouciance
- Englishinsouciance
From French insouciance, from in- (“not”) + souciant (“worrying”).
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French insouciance
- insouciancenonchalance
German Sorglosigkeit, Unbesorgtheit
- Sorglosigkeitcarelessness, heedlessness, indifference, or casual unconcern
- Unbesorgtheitcarelessness, heedlessness, indifference, or casual unconcern
- Unbekümmertheitcarelessness, heedlessness, indifference, or casual unconcern
- Lässigkeitnonchalance
- Unbekümmertheitnonchalance
- Zwanglosigkeitnonchalance
- Nonchalancenonchalance
- Sprezzaturanonchalance
- Contenancenonchalance
Hungarian nemtörődömség
- nemtörődömségcarelessness, heedlessness, indifference, or casual unconcern
Italian non-chalance
- non-chalancecarelessness, heedlessness, indifference, or casual unconcern
Romanian impasibilitate, nepăsare
- impasibilitatecarelessness, heedlessness, indifference, or casual unconcern
- nepăsarecarelessness, heedlessness, indifference, or casual unconcern
- indiferențăcarelessness, heedlessness, indifference, or casual unconcern
- nonșalanțănonchalance
- degajarenonchalance
- dezinvolturănonchalance
Russian безразли́чие, беззабо́тность
- безразли́чие (bezrazlíčije)carelessness, heedlessness, indifference, or casual unconcern
- беззабо́тность (bezzabótnostʹ)nonchalance
Spanish indolencia
- indolenciacarelessness, heedlessness, indifference, or casual unconcern
Cite this entry
insouciance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/insouciance
“insouciance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/insouciance. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “insouciance,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/insouciance.
Source: insouciance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.