pococurante

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po·co·cu·ran·te

(pō′kō-ko͝o-răn′tē, -rän′tĕ)

adj.

Indifferent; apathetic.

One who does not care.

[Italian : poco, little; see poco + curante, present participle of curare, to care for (from Latin cūrāre, from cūra, care).]

po′co·cu·ran′tism n.

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.

pococurante

(ˌpəʊkəʊkjʊˈræntɪ)

(Literary & Literary Critical Terms) a person who is careless or indifferent

adj

(Literary & Literary Critical Terms) indifferent or apathetic

[C18: from Italian, from poco little + curante caring]

ˌpococuˈranteism, ˌpococuˈrantism n

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

po•co•cu•ran•te

(ˌpoʊ koʊ kʊˈræn ti, -ˈrɑn-, -kyʊ-)

n., pl. -ti (-ti)
adj. n.

1. a careless or indifferent person.

adj.

2. caring little; indifferent.

[1755–65; < Italian: literally, caring little. See poco, cure, -ant]

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References in periodicals archive ?

However, the "aristocratic distance" conjoined with capricious selection lacking vast and sympathetic knowledge led directly to the attitude of a Voltaire--reflected in the Venetian noble Pococurante (who in Candide cultivated sprezzatura/aloofness with a vengeance, rejecting almost everything except for a few verses by Virgil and Horace: he is the one about whom Candide states that "nothing can please him"), as well as in the attitude of a scholar who wishes to be appreciated on the number of things he rejected, and not--like modern man--on the inclusiveness of his sympathies.

In quest for the romantic imagination (I): Irving Babbitt's synthesis

There is a wonderful scene in chapter 25 of Voltaire's Candide in which the latter, along with a companion, Martin, arrive in Venice and decide to pay a visit to a Venetian noble named Pococurante. The sixty-year-old gentleman, who fives in a luxurious palace surrounded by beautiful gardens, statuaries and paintings, welcomes his guests warmly and then proceeds to respond to comments made by his admiring visitors on his art works, library collection, and musical tastes.

Candide's Naysayer in lively modern dress

4) Chad--A guy who can spell pococurante (for the seventh-grade spelling bee win) must make the cut.

Shelby's crushes the complete unabridged history: when Shelby sets off on a mission to ditch the junk food at her school, she cooks up a history of her love life to go along with it

In Voltaire's Candide, the Venetian aesthete Pococurante grants that Vergil did himself proud with a few select bits of the Aeneid, then goes on to rail against practically every personage in the poem.