pococurante

/ˌpəʊ.kəʊ.kjʊəˈɹæn.ti/

pococurante means apathetic, indifferent or nonchalant. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.

pococurante is pronounced /ˌpəʊ.kəʊ.kjʊəˈɹæn.ti/.

Why “pococurante” is a great word

POCOCURANTE — [Adjective, Noun] As an adjective: apathetic, indifferent, or nonchalant; as a noun: a person characterized by such indifference. From the French pococurante, from the character Pococurante in Voltaire's Candide (1759), coined by Voltaire from Italian poco ("little") + curante ("caring"). Unlike "nonchalant," which suggests a casual, unruffled manner, or "apathetic," which describes a simple absence of feeling, "pococurante" implies a conscious, cultivated dismissal born of satiety and weary judgment. It is the connoisseur finding a rare vintage merely passable, the scholar shrugging at a masterpiece as derivative, or the gourmand dismissing a perfect peach as overly sweet—a quiet declaration that nothing can surprise, which is its own form of profound, if weary, engagement.

Etymology

Borrowed from French pococurante, itself - from Pococurante, a nonchalant Venetian senator in Candide, coined by Voltaire based on Italian poco (“little”) + curante (“caring”).

adj

Apathetic, indifferent or nonchalant.“The Treasury was entrusted to the pococurante capacity of Grafton, the Exchequer to the erratic genius of Charles Townshend.”

noun

An apathetic, indifferent or nonchalant person.