Make Your Point > Archived Issues > INSOUCIANT
Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.
connect this word to others:
The word we're checking out today is insouciant, which means "both carefree and careless at the same time."
Remove the "careless" element and you could wind up with the word bu___nt: carefree, cheerful, lighthearted.
Or, remove the "carefree" element and you could wind up with lack_______al: careless, lazy, and uninterested.
But throw "carefree" and "careless" together, and you get insouciant: chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool, and all shootin' some b-ball instead of studying, completing homework, or dressing appropriately for school.
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
make your point with...
"INSOUCIANT"
This word came through French. Ultimately it has Latin roots that mean "not caring, not troubled, not disturbed, not provoked, or not agitated."
Insouciant people and things are carefree and careless. In other words, they're not concerned, not bothered, and not worried. Even though they should care, they don't, and they're usually pretty happy about it.
Pronunciation:
in SOO see unt
Part of speech:
Adjective: "an insouciant wave of her hand," "he's insouciant about that whole issue."
Other forms:
insouciance, insouciantly
How to use it:
Because we took this word from French, it can sound a bit snooty or a bit sophisticated, so it's fun to spit it out as either a compliment or a criticism.
You might talk about insouciant people and personalities, or people who are insouciant about some topic.
Or, talk about insouciant tones, manners, attitudes, swaggers, methods, approaches, comments, gestures, facial expressions, etc.
examples:
"[The actor Jason Momoa], from the insouciant way he flips his long locks to the knowing smirk he displays in many scenes, seems to be enjoying himself in the role."
— Soren Andersen, Seattle Times, 19 December 2018
"As yet she has not given him half a glance. She has not even turned her eyes in the direction whence he is approaching. She sits silent in her saddle, and to all appearance calmly indifferent. But this air of insouciance is only assumed. The quivering of the kestrel, roosted upon her wrist, tells that she is trembling..."
— Captain Mayne Reid, The White Gauntlet, 1865
has this page helped you understand "insouciant"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "insouciant" without saying "indifferent" or "easygoing."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "With (his, her, its, or their) typical insouciance, (someone or some group) _____."
Example: "With my typical insouciance, I gave no thought to the paper until the night before it was due."
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
In August, we played the time-honored Game of Venery!
We invented terms for groups of things: terms that James Lipton, the author of An Exaltation of Larks, calls "shards of poetry and truth." Example terms of venery include lovely ones like "a conflagration of fireflies" and silly ones like "a myopia of umpires," "a rash of dermatologists," and "an unemployment of graduates."
In each issue in August, I offered two templates. You (hopefully) had fun filling them in and sharing your inventions with your family, being as lofty, silly, or bawdy as you like.
From the previous issue:
1. A labyrinth of _____
2. A _____ of luggage
The terms listed in the book are "a labyrinth of magazines" and "an odyssey of luggage."
Next up, a game for September: Name Those Synonyms!
Recently I found a gem: a used copy of Funk & Wagnalls Standard Handbook of Synonyms, Antonyms, and Prepositions. It's a thick, navy blue hardback, copyright 1947, that smells like an old library and is absolutely teeming with insights about words. What's the difference between "thrive" and "prosper," exactly? Between "mutual" and "reciprocal"? What separates the "miraculous" from the "supernatural"? Funk and Wagnalls will tell you, in short explanations full of grace and authority.
This month, we’ll enjoy some of those explanations. In each issue, check out the passage from the book, and see if you can figure out which synonyms are being distinguished.
Give it a try each day, and I’ll list the correct answers in the following issue.
And for an extra challenge, starting a couple of days from now, see if you can recall the fine differences you read about a few days prior.
Try this today: What two synonyms (<1> and <2>) does the Handbook distinguish below?
"To <1> any event or occasion is to make some demonstration of respect or rejoicing because of or in memory of it, or to perform such public rites or ceremonies as it properly demands. We <1> the birth, <2> the death of one beloved or honored. We <1> a national anniversary with music and song, with firing of guns and ringing of bells; we <2> by any solemn and thoughtful service, or by a monument or other enduring memorial. We keep the Sabbath, observe an anniversary; we <1> or observe the Lord's Supper in which believers <2> the sufferings and death of Christ."
review this word:
1. One opposite of INSOUCIANT is
A. PREPARED.
B. TROUBLED.
C. INSPIRED.
2. As Steve Stockman observed, these days when someone points a video camera at us, we're insouciant. But back when the technology was new, people being filmed _____.
A. waved at the camera with a rabid vigor
B. looked at the person holding the camera instead of into the lens
C. affected an unsmiling posture, as if it were necessary to hold very still for the video camera to capture them
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
The word we're checking out today is insouciant, which means "both carefree and careless at the same time." This word came through French. Ultimately it has Latin roots that mean "not caring, not troubled, not disturbed, not provoked, or not agitated."
"[The actor Jason Momoa], from the insouciant way he flips his long locks to the knowing smirk he displays in many scenes, seems to be enjoying himself in the role."
Explain the meaning of "insouciant" without saying "indifferent" or "easygoing."
Fill in the blanks: "With (his, her, its, or their) typical insouciance, (someone or some group) _____."
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. One opposite of INSOUCIANT is
|