different between indifferent vs random

English

Etymology

From Old French indifferent, from Latin indifferens.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?d?f.??nt/, /?n?d?f.?.??nt/
• Hyphenation: in?dif?fer?ent

Adjective

indifferent (comparative more indifferent, superlative most indifferent)

1. Not caring or concerned; uninterested, apathetic.
   • 1816, Jane Austen, Emma, Volume 2, Chapter 16,^[1]

     “I must not hope to be ever situated as you are, in the midst of every dearest connexion, and therefore I cannot expect that simply growing older should make me indifferent about letters.”

     “Indifferent! Oh! no—I never conceived you could become indifferent. Letters are no matter of indifference; they are generally a very positive curse.”

   • 1933, George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London, Chapter 3,^[2]

     When you have a hundred francs in the world you are liable to the most craven panics. When you have only three francs you are quite indifferent; for three francs will feed you till tomorrow, and you cannot think further than that. You are bored, but you are not afraid.

2. Indicating or reflecting a lack of concern or care.
   • 1886, Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Chapter 25,^[3]

     Donald appeared not to see her at all, and answered her wise little remarks with curtly indifferent monosyllables […]

   • 1990, J. M. Coetzee, Age of Iron, London: Secker & Warburg, p. 33,

     ‘Wonderful, Florence,’ I said, producing the ritual phrases: ‘I don’t know what I would do without you.’ But of course I do know. I would sink into the indifferent squalor of old age.

3. Mediocre (usually used negatively in modern usage).
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, Dublin: John Smith, Volume 2, Book 10, Chapter 9, p. 275,^[4]

     When Mrs. Honour had made her Report from the Landlord, Sophia, with much Difficulty, procured some indifferent Horses, which brought her to the Inn, where Jones had been confined rather by the Misfortune of meeting with a Surgeon, than by having met with a broken Head.

   • 1826, Walter Scott, Woodstock, Edinburgh: Archibald Constable, Volume I, Chapter 3, p. 84,^[5]

     […] the state-rooms are unaired, and in indifferent order, since of late years.

   • 1965, Muriel Spark, The Mandelbaum Gate, Part 2, p. 252,^[6]

     Suddenly Barbara remembered the party where she had first met Ruth Gardnor with her husband. The night of the dinner party. And the cello: it had been an indifferent performance.

4. Having no preference or bias, being impartial.
   • 1713, Joseph Addison, Cato, a Tragedy, London: J. Tonson, Act V, Scene 1, p. 57,^[7]

     […] Let Guilt or Fear

     Disturb Man’s Rest: Cato knows neither of ’em,

     Indiff’rent in his Choice to sleep or die.

   • 1933, H. G. Wells, The Shape of Things to Come, Book 3, Part 7,^[8]

     The scientific worker aims at knowledge and is quite indifferent whether people like or dislike the knowledge he produces.

5. Not making a difference; without significance or importance.
   • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene 3,^[9]

     […] But I am arm’d,

     And dangers are to me indifferent.

   • 1650, Jeremy Taylor, “Of Contentedness” in The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living, 8th edition, London: Richard Royston, 1668, Chapter 2, Section 6, p. 118,^[10]

     […] every thing in the world is indifferent but sin.

   • 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, Boston: Ticknor, Reed & Fields, p. 162,^[11]

     His gestures, his gait, his grizzled beard, his slightest and most indifferent acts, the very fashion of his garments, were odious in the clergyman’s sight;

   • 1956, Mary Renault, The Last of the Wine, New York: Modern Library, Chapter 28, p. 374,^[12]

     We talked of indifferent things, and watched the juggler who was tossing torches in the Stadium, for twilight was falling.

6. (mechanics) Being in the state of neutral equilibrium.
7. (obsolete) Not different, matching.
   • c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, Act IV, Scene 1,^[13]

     […] let their heads be sleekly comb’d, their blue coats brush’d and their garters of an indifferent knit

Related terms

• indifference
• indifferency (obsolete)
• indifferentism
• indifferently

Translations

Noun

indifferent (plural indifferents)

1. A person who is indifferent or apathetic.

Adverb

indifferent

1. (obsolete) To some extent, in some degree (intermediate between very and not at all); moderately, tolerably, fairly.

Usage notes

• Now obsolete, but very common c. 1600-1730.

References

• John A. Simpson and Edward S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) , “indifferent”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ?ISBN

Middle French

Adjective

indifferent m (feminine singular indifferente, masculine plural indifferents, feminine plural indifferentes)

1. indifferent; apathetic

English

Etymology

From earlier randon, from Middle English randoun, raundon, from Old French randon, from randir (“to run, gallop”) (whence French randonnée (“long walk, hike”)), from Frankish *rant, *rand (“run”, noun), from Proto-Germanic *randij?, from *rinnan? (“run”, verb), from Proto-Indo-European *(H)r?-nw- (“to flow, move, run”). See run.

Pronunciation

• enPR: r?n'd?m, IPA^(key): /??ænd?m/

Noun

random (countable and uncountable, plural randoms)

1. A roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance.
2. (obsolete) Speed, full speed; impetuosity, force. [14^th-17^thc.]

   Synonyms: force, momentum, speed, velocity
3. (obsolete) The full range of a bullet or other projectile; hence, the angle at which a weapon is tilted to allow the greatest range. [16^th-19^thc.]
   • 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, in Kupperman 1988, page 144:

     Fortie yards will they shoot levell, or very neare the marke, and 120 is their best at Random.
4. (figuratively, colloquial) An undefined, unknown or unimportant person; a person of no consequence. [from 20^thc.]

   Synonyms: rando, nobody, nonentity

5. (mining) The direction of a rake-vein.
6. (printing, historical) A frame for composing type.
   • 1935, Newspaper World (issues 1930-1955, page 41)

     Utilization of all floor space underneath case racks and randoms is another feature of the modern composing room; […]

   • 2002, Republic of Korea (issue 2, page 502)

     Printers' frames and randoms

Derived terms

• randy

Translations

Adjective

random (comparative more random, superlative most random)

1. Having unpredictable outcomes and, in the ideal case, all outcomes equally probable; resulting from such selection; lacking statistical correlation.

   Synonym: aleatory

   • July 18 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Rises[1]

     Where the Joker preys on our fears of random, irrational acts of terror, Bane has an all-consuming, dictatorial agenda that’s more stable and permanent, a New World Order that’s been planned out with the precision of a military coup.

2. (mathematics) Of or relating to probability distribution.

   Synonym: stochastic

3. (computing) Pseudorandom; mimicking the result of random selection.

   Synonym: pseudorandom

4. (somewhat colloquial) Representative and undistinguished; typical and average; selected for no particular reason.

   Synonyms: average, typical

5. (somewhat colloquial) Apropos of nothing; lacking context; unexpected; having apparent lack of plan, cause, or reason.

   Synonyms: arbitrary, unexpected, unplanned

6. (colloquial) Characterized by or often saying random things; habitually using non sequiturs.

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? German: random
• ? Hungarian: random

Translations

Further reading

• randomness on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Damron, Dorman, Mardon, Rodman, mandor, modRNA, ram-don, rodman

German

Etymology

English random

Pronunciation

Adjective

random (not comparable)

1. (colloquial) random

   Synonyms: beliebig, durcheinander, zufällig

Further reading

• “random” in Duden online

Hungarian

Etymology

From English random.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?r?ndom]
• Hyphenation: ran?dom
• Rhymes: -om

Adjective

random (comparative randomabb, superlative legrandomabb)

1. random

   Synonyms: véletlen, véletlenszer?

2. (informal) undistinguished, average, arbitrary, whichever, any

   Synonyms: tetsz?leges, akármelyik, akármilyen, bármelyik, bármilyen

Declension

References