in·sou·ci·ant

(ĭn-so͞o′sē-ənt, ăN′so͞o-syäN′)

adj.

Marked by blithe unconcern; nonchalant.

[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).]

in·sou′ci·ant·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

insouciant

(ɪnˈsuːsɪənt)

adj

carefree or unconcerned; light-hearted

[C19: from French, from in-¹ + souciant worrying, from soucier to trouble, from Latin sollicitāre; compare solicitous]

inˈsouciance n

inˈsouciantly adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

in•sou•ci•ant

(ɪnˈsu si ənt; Fr. ɛ̃ suˈsyɑ̃)

adj.

free from concern, worry, or anxiety; carefree; nonchalant.

[1820–30; < French, =in- in-³ + souciant, present participle of soucier to worry < Vulgar Latin *sollicītāre, for Latin sollicitāre to disturb; see solicit]

in•sou′ci•ant•ly, adv.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.

insouciant - marked by blithe unconcern; "an ability to interest casual students"; "showed a casual disregard for cold weather"; "an utterly insouciant financial policy"; "an elegantly insouciant manner"; "drove his car with nonchalant abandon"; "was polite in a teasing nonchalant manner"

casual, nonchalant

unconcerned - lacking in interest or care or feeling; "the average American...is unconcerned that his or her plight is the result of a complex of personal and economic and governmental actions...beyond the normal citizen's comprehension and control"; "blithely unconcerned about his friend's plight"

insouciant

adjective nonchalant, casual, carefree, gay, sunny, buoyant, airy, breezy, unconcerned, jaunty, untroubled, happy-go-lucky, free and easy, unworried, light-hearted He worked with insouciant disregard for convention.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

noncurante spensierato

insouciant

[ɪnˈsuːsɪənt] ADJ → despreocupado

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

insouciant

[ɪnˈsuːsiənt] (formal) adj (= nonchalant) → insouciant(e)

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

insouciant

adj (liter: = careless) → unbekümmert; to be insouciant about something → sich nicht um etw kümmern

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

insouciant

[ɪnˈsuːsɪənt] adj (liter) → noncurante

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The ladies of Watteau, gay and insouciant, seemed to wander with their cavaliers among the great trees, whispering to one another careless, charming things, and yet somehow oppressed by a nameless fear.

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Members of the irresistible Wilde family visit throughout the book, and their insouciant response to gossip make them the relatives anyone would want in their corner.

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The album commences with 'Amputation', in which waves of distorted guitar and Jim's insouciant vocal delivery collide to create a hypnotic track which addresses his feelings of "being edited out of the whole music business I felt like a rock 'n' roll amputation."

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I love the insouciant way she carries her beach towel and water bottle in a giant Hermes Birkin bag.

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There's something charmingly tasteless in that gesture: It's sacrilegious, hubristic, or just too soon, especially coming from McKinniss, who, however sincere he may be, is naturally insouciant. His show was a collection of smart-ass oil-and-acrylic enshrinements of his screen-grabbed personal preferences--for things such as Princess Leia, Snoop Dogg, Whitney Houston, and Henri Fantin-Latour's flamboyant dahlias.

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However, there was a little consolation for Wallasey's insouciant medium-pacer, Chris Bourne, who ended the season with 6-58.

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What would our national newspapers fill their pages with in years to come if they could not use embarrassing photographs of Eton-educated wannabe-Prime Ministers looking insouciant with their bespoke uniform of tailcoats, waistcoats and bow ties?

Decline and Fall of Bullingdon boys?