Literary notes about indifferently (AI summary)
The word "indifferently" is deployed in literature to convey a sense of casual detachment or lack of passionate engagement in both action and speech. In works of fiction, characters often speak or act indifferently to suggest nonchalance or dismissal—for instance, a character’s muted response may signal emotional reserve or subtle irony (e.g. [1], [2], [3]). At times, it also appears in more descriptive passages where actions or natural phenomena are rendered with a sense of impartiality or routine occurrence, as when certain behaviors, elements, or supplies are handled without special care (e.g. [4], [5], [6]). In scholarly and rhetorical contexts, it is used to denote interchangeable uses or undifferentiated applications, underscoring an absence of strict distinction in usage (e.g. [7], [8], [9]). Overall, this modest adverb encapsulates a wide spectrum of attitudes, ranging from casual indifference in everyday dialogue to an analytical statement of equivalence in more formal or theoretical discourse (e.g. [10], [11]).
- “That’s all right,” I said, indifferently.
— from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain - I said, as quietly and indifferently as I could.
— from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - "If you wish," she answered indifferently.
— from Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy - The army was but indifferently supplied with transportation.
— from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. Grant - The train rushed past me with a roar and indifferently cast the glow of its red lights upon me.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - In the article of Mahomet, Bayle has shown how indifferently wit and philosophy supply the absence of genuine information.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - In fact, these are all more or less interchangeable terms, members of the same family calling themselves indifferently Erādi or Tirumalpād.
— from Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 7 of 7 by Edgar Thurston - But these two complements are not always separated by a sharp line, and the same dative may sometimes be referred indifferently to either head.
— from A Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges by George Martin Lane - That the words love and regard (amor and dilectio) are in Scripture used indifferently of good and evil affection.
— from The City of God, Volume II by Bishop of Hippo Saint Augustine - This is how the Greeks understood the word "tyrant": they applied it indifferently to good and bad princes whose authority was not legitimate.
— from The Social Contract & Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - He says indifferently and alike How are you friend?
— from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman